We aim to understand how different conceptions of the world coexisted, were created and maintained, and to understand the differences between classical and contemporary mythology in the art context. Are we living in post-mythological times? Is there a pattern or a semblance of structure in both classical mythology and contemporary myths such as the cyborg? Can we stretch the definition of mythology so that it encompasses everything that in some way tries to imbue a sense of order in the chaos (...) of human life? (shrink)

Drawing from Goffman’s original observations on stigma and the consequences of interactions between the stigmatized and supportive or stigmatizing audiences, we conduct a 20-year review of the diverse literature on stigma to revisit the collective nature of stigmatization processes. We find that studies on stigma’s origins, responses, processes, and outcomes have diverged from Goffman’s relational view of stigma as they have overlooked important relational mechanisms explaining the processes of (de)stigmatization. We draw from those conclusions to justify the need to study (...) stigma as a collective phenomenon. We develop a relational perspective on stigma based on understanding how attributes are stigmatized (or not) by audiences in their interactions. We argue that to advance stigma research, it is necessary to build on Goffman’s theory to include the stigmatizers (i.e., the normal) and supporters (i.e., the wise); how they create, sustain, or remove stigma; and how they relate to the stigmatized (i.e., the targets). Accordingly, we provide a research agenda on stigma as a collective phenomenon that theorizes a relational perspective, proposes a typology of how audiences relate to stigmatization, and identifies patterns of relations between audiences. We thus offer a missing piece to existing accounts of stigma by focusing on the key role of audiences (i.e., stigmatizers or supporters of the stigmatized) rather than on the targets of stigma (i.e., the own). (shrink)

Studies of creative industries typically contend that creative work is profoundly precarious, taking place on a freelance basis in highly competitive, individualized and contingent labour markets. Such studies depict creative workers as correspondingly self-enterprising, self-reliant, self-interested and calculative agents who valorise care-free independence. In contrast, we adopt the ‘ethics of care’ approach to explore, recognize and appreciate the communitarian, relational and moral considerations as well as interpersonal connectedness and interdependencies that underpin creative work. Drawing on in-depth interviews with creative workers (...) in a range of marginal socio-cultural contexts, we argue that creative workers cultivate and sustain a diverse array of practices of care arising from an affective concern with the well-being of others. Far from being merely individualistic and crudely competitive actors, creative workers enact practical ethical responsibilities and affectivities towards a range of human and non-human others, including families, local communities and neighbourhoods, colleagues, artistic scenes and their adjacent genres, and surrounding national and linguistic cultures. In emphasizing the fundamental and structuring role of care in contingent labour markets our approach accords with recent trends in the social sciences that ‘affirmatively’—as opposed to ‘negatively’ and ‘suspiciously’—recognize that mutuality, solidarity and affectivity are powerful drivers of action on a par with or even exceeding market-driven self-centredness. (shrink)

Flexibility in conceptual projection constitutes one of the most challenging issues in the embodiment and conceptual metaphor literatures. We sketch a theoretical proposal that places the burden of the explanation on attentional dynamics in interaction with mental models in working memory that are constrained to be maximally coherent. A test of this theory is provided in the context of the conceptual projection of time onto the domain of space. Participants categorized words presented at different spatial locations (back–front, left–right) as referring (...) to the past or to the future. Responses were faster when the irrelevant word location was congruent with the back–past, front–future metaphoric mapping. Moreover, when a new highly task-relevant spatial frame of reference was introduced, it changed the projection of past and future onto space in a way that was congruent with the new frame (past was now projected to left space and future to right space), as predicted by the theory. This study shows that there is substantial flexibility in conceptual projection and opens a venue to study metaphoric variation across tasks, individuals, and cultures as the result of attentional dynamics. (shrink)

El presente artículo hace a una reflexión sobre Kant y su énfasis en el apriorismo moral, sobre todo en cuanto se refiere al concepto de deber en la pura razón. Dicho concepto juega un papel fundamental como criterio de valor de la acción moral; una acción es moral en tanto sea hecha por deber y nada más que por deber. ¿Qué es el deber y dónde se fundamenta?, es de lo que se va a tratar el presente texto; igualmente nos (...) vamos a encontrar con el análisis y las características del imperativo categórico, junto con otras ideas morales, abordadas, eso sí, desde la perspectiva del apriorismo. (shrink)

In her recent book Gillian Brock argues that states’ legitimacy depends on their being part of a just state system that protects human rights. Here I discuss some practical limitations raised by Brock’s legitimacy framework: mainly, (1) the problematic real-world implications of such an account, and (2) the epistemic challenges that judgements inspired by this account would have to face, were we to proceed solely on the basis of it.

This postdoctoral project aims to investigate aspects of the development of algebraic thinking with blind and non-blind students that can contribute to mathematics teaching practices regarding the inclusion and promotion of learning opportunities in the early years of elementary school. The guiding research question is: “What are the potentialities and challenges of the development of algebraic thinking with blind and non-blind students in the early years of elementary school?”. Centered on a qualitative approach, this project will have as a context (...) of data production two classrooms from the early years of elementary school in a public school in the city of Belém, PA, Brazil, in which blind and non-blind students are enrolled. The initial criterion of choosing two classes participating in the research will be to have blind students enrolled in a regular class, as well as the availability of class teachers to discuss the texts and elaborate and develop tasks that involve the development of algebraic thinking. For this purpose, classes will be monitored for three months, considering the school’s availability. The data will be produced using the field diary, audio recordings, and video recordings of mathematics classes. During the data analysis, the videos and audios will be revisited several times, seeking to identify elements that help us respond to the research objective, and these will be transcribed and analyzed. We hope that the results of this study will contribute to the construction of inclusive educational practices in the early years of elementary school that enable blind and non-blind students to understand the fundamental concepts involved in the development of algebraic thinking. (shrink)

Resumen El artículo sitúa su reflexión en el tema del ecumenismo, relacionándolo con las propuestas de aggiornamento expresadas por el Vaticano II. Hace también alusión al ámbito de las mudanzas en el seno del protestantismo, de las Iglesias ortodoxas e incluso del cristianismo romano. Además alude a los grandes nombres que trazaron la reflexión teológica en el período de crisis que antecedió al evento –hablamos de aspectos que acabaron incidiendo en los debates conciliares. Siguiendo a Gutiérrez, el artículo destaca tres (...) dimensiones relativas a la búsqueda del diálogo de la Iglesia con el mundo contemporáneo: la urgencia de ser actual, la perspectiva ecuménica y la solidaridad con los pobres. Analiza los “caminos equivocados” que fueron adoptados por la Iglesia en lo concerniente a las propuestas ecumênicas del Concilio: el tomar un “execesivo cuidado” en lo que respecta al mundo moderno, las posiciones de intolerância frente a lo diferente, la comprensión reduccionista del ecumenismo. Hace mención a la exigência de construir relaciones que tengan como bases: la gracia y el amor. Por último, propone la tesis de que “no puede existir un sentido del diálogo, un encuentro entre los seres diferentes, sin la libertad”. Palabras-clave : Iglesia. Vaticano II. Ecumenismo. Diálogo inter-religioso.This article focuses its discussion on the theme of ecumenism, in relation to the catholic proposal of aggiornamento expressed by Vatican II. The text refers to the changes within the Protestantism, the Orthodox churches and also within the Roman Christianity. It also mentions the relevant names that marked theological reflection in those times of crisis prior to the Council. Following the author´s thought, the text highlights three dimensions of the dialogue of the Church with the contemporary world: the urgency in getting things update, the ecumenical perspective and the solidarity with the poor. The article evaluates the "wrong path" taken by the Church in relation to the propositions of the ecumenical council: attitudes of intolerance to the different and the reductionist understanding of ecumenism. It also refers to the need to build relationships whose bases are the grace and love. The article finally expresses the following thesis: "there cannot be a sense of dialogue among different beings without freedom." Keywords : Church. Vatican II. Ecumenism. Inter-religious Dialogue. - DOI: 10.5752/P.2175-5841.2011v9n24p1246. (shrink)

The idea that guides this paper is that visual images of law have contributed in a very important way to the creation of a mental image of law that supports the belief in an obligation to obey the law. My purpose is: first, to identify and to analyse the visual representation of law and the messages they convey. Second, attempt to find out how they shape the mental image we have of law by following the construction of judicial space and, (...) then, through the iconography of law in order to understand how they build the belief that there is an obligation to obey the law; hence the idea that law has authority.Resumen:La idea central de este ensayo es que las imágenes visuales del derecho han contribuido en un modo importante a la creación de una imagen mental del derecho que apoya la creencia de que hay una obligación de obedecer el derecho. Así, el propósito de la autora es: primero, identificar y analizar la representación visual del derecho y los mensajes que ellas transmiten. Segundo, tratar de averiguar cómo estas representaciones conforman la imagen mental que tenemos del derecho: siguiendo la distribución del espacio judicial y, entonces, a través de la iconografía del derecho para comprender cómo construyen la creencia de que hay una obligación de obedecer el derecho; y por lo tanto la idea de que el derecho tiene una autoridad. (shrink)

La muerte constituye uno de los temas centrales de la literatura. Cada mundo creado a partir de la multiplicidad de espacios y tiempos representados, ofrece la visión de los opuestos, vida y muerte, que se complementan eternamente. Para entender plenamente los efectos de sentidos que otorga el tema de la muerte en la obra de Guadalupe Dueñas, el lector debe penetrar en el mundo profundo y variado de los tópicos literarios sobre la muerte, cuyas fronteras dan soporte y sentido a (...) lo expuesto en los relatos de esta escritora. (shrink)

Em Imagem-tempo Deleuze quando do quarto comentário a Bergson fala em cinema do tempo remetendo a Orson Welles e ao filme Cidadão Kane. O cinema do tempo é apresentado a partir de três caracteres de um tempo não cronológico. Deleuze aponta para uma condição do cinema do tempo ao propor a substituição de uma vista pragmática longitudinal por uma visão ótica, vertical, em profundidade. A profundidade de campo é trabalhada enquanto um elemento conceitual no trato de uma metafísica da memória (...) em diálogo com as bases do cinema moderno, nesse sentido, os três caracteres de um tempo não cronológico e a inserção de uma nova relação entre tempo e espaço no cinema são constituintes de uma imagem tempo direta cujo problema filosófico perpassa a inserção do movimento no pensamento. O encontro do quarto comentário em Imagem-tempo com o primeiro comentário a Bergson em Imagem-movimento é o percurso para compreender a importância da profundidade de campo. Assim o cinema do tempo de Welles é entendido como o cinema de uma metafísica da memória a partir de duas fontes: o esforço atual de evocação para suscitar a imagem-lembrança e a exploração das zonas virtuais de passado para encontrar a imagem-lembrança. (shrink)

This volume explores the linguistic expression of modality in natural language from a cross-linguistic perspective. Modal expressions provide the basic tools that allow us to dissociate what we say from what is actually going on, allowing us to talk about what might happen or might have happened, as well as what is required, desirable, or permitted. Chapters in the book demonstrate that modality involves many more syntactic categories and levels of syntactic structure than traditionally assumed. The volume distinguishes between three (...) types of modality: 'low modality', which concerns modal interpretations associated with the verbal and nominal cartographies in syntax; 'middle modality', or modal interpretation associated to the syntactic cartography internal to the clause; and 'high modality', relating to the left periphery. It combines cross-linguistic discussions of the more widely-studied sources of modality with analyses of novel or unexpected sources, and shows how the meanings associated with the three types of modality are realized across a wide range of languages. (shrink)

Las órdenes militares dispusieron desde su fundación de mano de obra esclava en sus tierras, pero la institución que mejor sirve para estudiar la esclavitud en los siglos XII y XIII en los reinos de León y Castilla son los hospitales para la redención de cautivos de la Orden de Santiago. Estas instituciones disponían de espacio para alojar a los cautivos mientras se negociaban rescates con los poderes islámicos, y atendían a la redistribución de aquellos musulmanes que, por no haber (...) sido redimidos, pasaban a ser esclavos de la propia orden o a ser vendidos en los mercados de los reinos cristianos. Los escasos documentos de la sección de Órdenes Militares del Archivo Histórico Nacional dedicados a esclavos ayudan a comprender el funcionamiento del tráfico, trabajo y liberación de este colectivo. (shrink)

Pedro de Atarrabia , filósofo escotista, se plantea en una cuestión quodlibetal la diferencia entre la intuición y la abstracción en lo que se refiere al conocimiento de la existencia. Piensa Atarrabia que la abstracción se distingue de la intuición por necesitar dos especies vicarias. Además la intuición precisa de la existencia actual "exterior" del objeto conocido. Atarrabia rechaza la pretensión de su contemporáneo Pedro Aureolo sobre el conocimiento intuitivo de lo no existente.Pedro of Atarrabia , scotist philosopher, arrives, through (...) a quodlibetal suject, to the difference between intuition and abstraction, in all that refers to the knowledge of existence. Atarrabia thinks that abstraction needs subordinate > while intuition does not need them. He rejects his contemporary, Petrus Aureolus, who pretends that non-existent objects can be known by intuition. (shrink)

The ability to use and make technical artifacts has been considered exclusive to human beings. However, recent findings in ethology in light of observations made in nature and in laboratory show the opposite. In the area of philosophy of technology there are few exceptions that take into account the ability of some non-human animals to manufacture and use tools. In this paper I want to show some reasons to reconsider other possibilities. It seems that capacities such as intentionality, culture or (...) even the complexity of the structures of manufactured object are not exclusive to human beings. I will suggest a different way of analyzing objects created by non-human animals, one that tries to explain the gradualness of the structure, but also the plasticity of the behavior exhibited by non-human animals. These two elements allow a deeper understanding of the great variety of objects that other animals also manufacture and use. (shrink)

O VÍNCULO ENTRE NACIONALIDADE E DIREITOS HUMANOS: UMA ANÁLISE DA APATRIDIA À LUZ DO PENSAMENTO DE HANNAH ARENDT.

International criminal law (ICL) has traditionally overlooked sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and struggles to understand it. Prosecutions have been largely inefficient and not reflective of gender harms. The Rome Statute requires interpreting SGBV as a social construction (article 7(3)), in consistency with international human rights law (IHRL) and without discrimination (article 21(3)). There is, however, little guidance to implement these approaches. This article argues that intersectionality, an IHRL-based approach that reveals compounded discrimination, is an efficient tool to interpret SGBV (...) and, therefore, should be integrated in ICL. The article traces the origins of intersectionality in feminism and its recognition by IHRL dealing with violence against women. It establishes the applicability of intersectionality in ICL that it demonstrates with a comparative analysis of the Lubanga and Ntaganda cases. The findings show that intersectionality suits ICL’s specific needs which allows labelling and explaining some of those contributions throughout the judicial process. (shrink)

Analysis of the feeling of shame plays a crucial role in classical phenomenological accounts of intersubjectivity, and shame has increasingly become a core topic in Anglo‐American moral philosophy since at least the publication of Bernard Williams's Shame and Necessity in 1993. While Williams's philosophical approach to the deep moral implications of shame was indeed groundbreaking, previous philosophical readings of the emotion were already in the offing, including Jean‐Paul Sartre's prodigious representation of the moment shame reaches consciousness in Being and Nothingness, (...) first published in 1943. This paper compares Sartre's and Williams's interpretive frameworks for understanding the rich (first‐personal) experience of shame, explaining in detail how they not only complement but also illuminate each other, thereby offering a novel understanding of shame's relation to the moral, nonmoral, and ethical self. (shrink)

Recently, approach-avoidance tendencies and visual perception biases have been increasingly studied using bistable point-light walkers (PLWs). Prior studies have found a facing-the-viewer bias when one is primed with general threat stimuli (e.g. angry faces), explained by the “error management theory”, as failing to detect a threat as approaching is riskier than the opposite. Importantly, no study has explored how disease threat – linked to the behavioural immune system – might affect this bias. This study aimed to explore whether disease-signalling cues (...) can alter how we perceive the motion direction of ambiguous PLWs. Throughout 3 experiments, participants indicated the motion direction of a bistable PLW previously primed with a control or disease-signalling stimuli – that is, face with a surgical mask (Experiment 1), sickness sound (Experiment 2), or face with a disease cue (Experiment 3). Results showed that sickness cues do not significantly modulate the perception of approach-avoidance behaviours. However, a pattern emerged in Experiments 2 and 3, suggesting that sickness stimuli led to more facing away percepts. Unlike other types of threat, this implies that disease-related threat stimuli might trigger a distinct perceptual bias, indicating a preference to avoid a possible infection source. Nonetheless, this finding warrants future investigations. (shrink)

Resumen: El propósito del texto es analizar la relación entre cuidado de sí e innovación educativa, considerando que el diálogo y la ironía, son prácticas que posibilitan que el cuidado de sí surja como novedad en la vida del sujeto. Para alcanzar dicho propósito, el texto está dividido en dos apartados, en el primero se revisan las nociones de cuidado de sí e innovación educativa, en el segundo se analizan el diálogo y la ironía. Se acepta que la innovación educativa (...) es esa posibilidad de mantener en novedad el cuidado de sí como transformación de sí. Se asume que diálogo e ironía son experiencia radical en una continua exigencia de reflexión como una manera de habitar la extrañeza y, simultáneamente, bajo el ejercicio pedagógico del ser y hacer de las prácticas educativas. Finalmente se considera al cuidado de sí e innovación educativa como: reflexión y vida en ejercicio. Asumimos que en el diálogo y en la ironía hay un doblez y giro de la atención, la inquietud y el cuidado de sí que lo hacen emerger como innovación educativa. Palabras clave: Cuidado de sí; Innovación educativa; Diálogo; Ironía; Reflexión. Autocuidado e inovação educacional: Diálogo e ironia Resumo: O objetivo do texto é analisar a relação entre o autocuidado e a inovação educativa, considerando que o diálogo e a ironia são práticas que permitem que o autocuidado surja como novidade na vida do sujeito. Para atingir esse objetivo, o texto está dividido em duas seções, na primeira são revisadas as noções de autocuidado e inovação educacional, na segunda analisam-se o diálogo e a ironia. Admite-se que a inovação educacional é a possibilidade de manter o cuidado de si como uma transformação de si como novidade. Assume-se que o diálogo e a ironia são uma experiência radical em uma demanda contínua de reflexão como forma de habitar a estranheza e, simultaneamente, sob o exercício pedagógico do ser e do fazer nas práticas educativas. Por fim, considera-se o autocuidado e a inovação educacional como: reflexão e vida em exercício. Partimos do pressuposto de que no diálogo e na ironia há uma reviravolta de atenção, inquietação e autocuidado que a fazem emergir como inovação educativa. Palavras-chave: Autocuidado; Inovação educacional; Diálogo; Ironia; Reflexão. Self-care and educational innovation: Dialogue and irony Summary: The purpose of the text is to analyze the relationship between self-care and educational innovation, considering that dialogue and irony are practices that allow self-care to emerge as a novelty in the subject's life. To achieve this purpose, the text is divided into two sections, in the first the notions of self-care and educational innovation are reviewed, in the second the dialogue and irony are analyzed. It is accepted that educational innovation is the possibility of keeping care of oneself as a transformation of oneself as novel. It is assumed that dialogue and irony are a radical experience in a continuous demand for reflection as a way of inhabiting strangeness and, simultaneously, under the pedagogical exercise of being and doing in educational practices. Finally, self-care and educational innovation are considered as: reflection and life in practice. We assume that in the dialogue and in the irony there is a twist and turn of attention, restlessness and self-care that make it emerge as an educational innovation. Keywords: Self-care; Educational innovation; Dialogue; Irony; Reflection. Data de registro: 04/07/2022 Data de aceite: 26/10/2022. (shrink)

This article discusses some ethical questions raised by multiple citizenship and, more generally, citizenship as we know it. Despite a richness of legal and sociological discussions of multiple citizenship, purely ethical inquiry into multiple citizenship is still in its infancy. The aim here is not to provide a literature review of the further‐flung scholarship on this topic, but rather to point out that multiple citizenship is a topic worthy of specifically philosophical inquiry, and to show how it relates to existing (...) debates within political philosophy. (shrink)

Buscamos demonstrar que a ação política, na visão de Hannah Arendt, não é meio para atingir qualquer fim, sendo sinônimo de liberdade, o que faz com que a autora problematize a tradicional identificação da política com violência, a partir de uma crítica ao equacionamento, que remonta aos primórdios do pensamento filosófico sobre o tema, de liberdade e vontade, fazer o que se deseja, o que leva a pensadora em questão a trabalhar as duas dimensões da ação política, isto é, a (...) dimensão agonística e a consensualista, significando esta última uma liberdade mutuamente garantida. (shrink)

A hipótese do artigo é que o dilema da constituição da representação política, que não tem por função refletir, mas interferir e operar uma unidade de “vontade política” a um povo ou uma nação, foi enfrentado pelos primeiros pensadores da representação moderna em diferentes contextos de grande transformação política e social: na Inglaterra absolutista no século XVII, por Thomas Hobbes, e na França pós-revolucionaria no século XVIII, pelo Abade Sieyès. O artigo procura identificar nos argumentos dos respectivos filósofos os primeiros (...) esforços teóricos sobre a representação moderna, através de uma comparação que evidencia dilemas e constrangimentos semelhantes em diferentes contextos teóricos. Um dos principais desafios da representação política, nos dois autores, permanece sendo a busca dos mecanismos capazes de transformar vontades dispersas e múltiplas de indivíduos numa só vontade unificada do corpo social. Embora os argumentos de legitimidade possam variar, para ambos os autores, a “vontade” do representante político é produto de uma elaboração conceitual e de uma produção racional que se dá com a constituição de um corpo, que no caso de Hobbes se dá com a criação do Estado, e em Sieyès com a representação nacional. (shrink)

Although the field of wearable computing is experiencing a great boost at the level of design and production, research on its social dimensions is still at an early phase and the literature on the subject is scant. This paper attempts to partially fill this gap by reviewing the current status of the field of wearable computing and the main issues that are starting to emerge from their usage. The first part defines wearable computers and assesses its technical and conceptual origins (...) and developments. Examples of current wearable computing products are provided. The second part reviews some of its possible social implications, especially as they relate to the issue of control. It concludes by suggesting future research directions for the study of the social dimensions of wearable computing. (shrink)

En el campo de la filosofía de la religión se destaca el libro Creencia y racionalidad (Romerales, 1992), por su calidad, originalidad y en especial por sus aportaciones como las de John Hick, Anthony Flew, Alvin Plantinga, o Richard Swinburne. El mencionado libro recoge algunos de los artículos más destacados de estos y otros autores en torno a la racionalidad de las creencias religiosas. Aparecen tres posiciones que se encuentran expuestas mediante parábolas. Aquí Karl Popper somete una teoría a una (...) serie de refutaciones con el fin de desmentirla, y así saber que tan confiable y científica resulta ser. (shrink)

É que nada é mais imutável, nada é mais firme do que um povo unido pela concórdia e que tudo reporta à sua preservação e à sua liberdade. Em tal Estado é facílimo alcançar a concórdia, na qual a todos con­vém a mesma coisa. Da variedade de interesses, quando a cada um agrada uma coisa diferente, nascem as discórdias. (Cícero, Tratado da República, I. 49) Preâmbulo Cícero, uma das figuras incontornáveis da história de Roma, tem sido admirado pelo seu percurso (...) pessoal e profissional, bem como... (shrink)

Retraction note: Montoro López, A. (2022). Scope of taxation as a tool of the Environmental Policy of the European Union: “Environmental taxes and their effectiveness as an instrumental protection”. HUMAN REVIEW. International Humanities / Revista Internacional De Humanidades, 12(6), 2–15. https://doi.org/10.37467/revhuman.v11.4105 The Editorial Office of Eurasia Academic Publishing Group has retracted this article. An investigation carried out by our Research Integrity Department has found a group of articles, among which this one is found, that are not within the thematic scope (...) of the journal. We believe that the editorial process was manipulated and, furthermore, acceptance decisions were made under possibly inappropriate peer review. (shrink)

A base da autonomia acontece na presença do outro, através do diálogo. Pensando nisso e preocupadas em oferecer ferramentas para o educador é que temos desenvolvido oficinas com dinâmicas, pois elas favorecem o filosofar, possibilitam ao profissional da educação infantil um espaço para ressignificar sua atuação e sua prática diante da reflexão e de vivências que o levem a experimentar o saber de si enquanto sujeito aberto ao diálogo e a novas aprendizagens.

This paper corrects a historical injustice that has been perpetrated against Kant for some time now. Mostly on good grounds, Kantian ethics have been accused of neglecting the role played by the emotions in moral deliberation and in morally informed action. However, the contemporary moral philosophers who have put forth such a claim tend to bypass textual sources, on the one hand, and to downplay the role played by the anthropological writings on Kant’s practical philosophy as a whole, on the (...) other. Relying on highly relevant pre-critical texts in which Kant sketches future argumentative patterns and discusses the role of negative emotions like shame on the improvement of the human species, I address a mistaken conclusion about Kantian ethics as a whole that is common in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. Finally, I raise some paradoxical conclusions that follow from Kant’s argument, once its implicit premises have been brought to light. (shrink)

In a similar way to what happens when a wave of electricity impacts the animal body and provokes a convulsive stir of muscles and nerves which can burn and ultimately paralyze the affected surface, some rough emotional experiences may lead us to sudden numbness. Keeping abreast with the most sophisticated phenomenological tools to account for an extremely damaging kind of psychological experience that can ultimately defeat the purpose of a sheer descriptive approach, this chapter does provide a descriptive analysis of (...) the kind of emotional shock that risks threatening the moral integrity of an agent. I shall zoom in my analysis on the typically acknowledged moment when disturbing information from a socially shared context outside ourselves comes suddenly to the fore of our attention, thus disrupting the focus even of the the most trivial perceptive input. I argue that in the longer run the outcome of such an experience may amount to a reconfiguration of the subject’s core values, daily routines and even her life-long expectations and projects. (shrink)

In this introductory chapter, we discuss some recent theoretical approaches to the relations between Western Philosophy and Literary Modernism, and at the same time, we get back to some classic contrasts drawn between the two creative enterprises in the foundational texts of each tradition, which make them seem irreconcilable. Recent rapprochements made by commentators on twentieth-century philosophy and the cultural breakthrough of Modernism in the last decade of the nineteenth-century have insisted on a disenchanted rupture with all kinds of metaphysical (...) worldviews, which had theretofore played a stabilizing role in human beings’ lives and in Western societies at large. Usually this demystifying gesture is associated with a concentration of theoretical attention on the role played by language itself. In terms of the development of philosophical methods in the twentieth-century, this has been especially associated with the so-called ‘linguistic analysis’. You could conceive of the linguistic turn as a new metaphysical framework. This framework would equally encompass the whole of reality in a single, unifying principle. In this book we mean to avoid this essentialist worldview by drawing on highly differentiated resources from human language itself, be it poetry, the novel, the theatre or the plastic arts. (shrink)

No seu livro de 1998 — What we owe to each other — T. M. Scanlon defendeu sistematicamente que a noção de “razão” é primitiva e não definível noutros termos quando se trata de explicar um curso de acção moralmente relevante. Suportando o seu argumento num modelo muito intuitivo para pensar o que são razões em termos de racionalidade prática, Scanlon defende que qualquer explicação conduz sempre à mesma ideia: uma razão é uma consideração que conta em favor de algo. (...) E conta como tal na medida em que fornece uma razão para aquilo que justifica, explica ou legitima. Parece, portanto, que este é o limite da definição. O meu argumento neste trabalho confronta a posição hiper-racionalista de Scanlon com o exemplo da Acrasia ou fraqueza da vontade, por se tratar de um típico curso de acção que não apenas seria erradamente caracterizado com racional, mas onde o próprio agente falharia sistematicamente na provisão de razões para o seu comportamento. (shrink)