Un día de verano en medio de un insólito vendaval murió mi madre. Fue una extraña tarde de junio de torrencial lluvia y abrumadores rayos. “Tiene poca lividez, pero está muerta”, dijo el médico luego de auscultarla, tomarle el pulso, mirarle el reflejo pupilar a la velocidad de la luz y concluir: “Muerte súbita. Feneció de un ataque al corazón”.

El imaginario de superioridad expresado a lo largo de tres siglos de colonia perdura pasados dos siglos de independencia de las naciones americanas en el ideario religioso y cultural. La idea de la superioridad de la religión católica o la protestante, cristiana en definitiva, gestado desde los preludios de una temprana modernidad por los conquistadores occidentales y refrendada por filósofos modernos de tendencia protestante como Hegel (en sus Lecciones sobre filosofía de la religión o en la Enciclopedia de las ciencias (...) filosóficas) dejaron espinosos rasgos poscoloniales que perduran arraigados en los horizontes de comprensión de la actividad filosófica y cultural hispanoamericana, latinoamericana, europea y americana en general; mucho más cuando estos rasgos de superioridad cultural permanecen, inclusive, en algunos críticos de la religión y de occidente como en su momento lo fueron Marx y Engels (en Materiales para la historia de América Latina se recopilan sus pensamientos dispersos a propósito de América). El tema es complejo, quienes con antelación han criticado las concepciones de culturas superiores son numerosos y de antaño, algunos de estos críticos lo son desde la perspectiva decolonial otros desde de estudios subalternos y otros más desde el ámbito filosófico. (shrink)

Este artículo tiene el propósito, en un primer momento, de dilucidar la noción de religión y mito en Friedrich Hölderlin, contrastándolo con el concepto de religión racional de Kant. En un segundo momento, se comparará la concepción de este poeta con algunos estudiosos del tema religioso posteriores a él. Además, se sostiene que la reflexión sobre la religión que realiza Hölderlin es vigente, pese a su poca influencia en los análisis actuales del fenómeno.

La tesis que se propone en este artículo es que, si existe el perdón, este siempre implica el trabajo de la memoria. Para llevar a cabo este propósito y reflexionar sobre las posibilidades del perdón en la realidad colombiana, tomaremos como base los planteamientos del filósofo francés Paul Ricoeur de la memoria, el perdón, la identidad, el sí mismo y la narración. Con Ricoeur, podemos afirmar que en el testimonio de las víctimas se abre el horizonte de la relación entre (...) memoria y perdón, porque la reconstrucción de los hechos a través del relato abre una dialéctica entre lo que ha marcado la identidad y las variaciones y proyecciones de dicha identidad. Narrar, además, es una manera de recuperar el _ser capaz _que ha sido vulnerado a través de la falta. Para esto, sin embargo, el testimonio tiene unas condiciones mínimas: que la víctima pueda contar su historia, que haya alguien dispuesto a escuchar y que se pueda recuperar la verdad de los hechos a través de procesos de justicia y reparación. Estas condiciones mínimas nos permitirán analizar, según algunos testimonios de diferentes víctimas, hasta qué punto es factible hablar de perdón en el conflicto armado colombiano. Al final, concluimos que el perdón implica procesos de reparación y justicia, y que solo surge al margen de estos cuando la víctima decide resignificar su pasado doloroso por un ideal ético de felicidad que le permite privilegiar su realización ante la afrenta recibida. (shrink)

RESUMEN El presente artículo resalta los aspectos constitutivos del Dasein expuestos por Heidegger en Ser y tiempo, con el propósito de referirlos a un personaje literario como ejemplo de una posible aplicación de la analítica existenciaria al ámbito literario. Con ello se pretende relacionar la concepción de existencia y muerte del pensamiento filosófico de Heidegger con la representación literaria de Vallejo. Para este objetivo se analizan los términos peculiares de los ámbitos y autores elegidos, y se contrastan en busca de (...) afinidad. Finalmente, el texto cierra con la coincidencia entre el pensar del filósofo y el literato. ABSTRACT This article brings into prominence the constitutive aspects of Dasein exposed by Heidegger in Being and Time, which will be referred to a literary character as an example of one possible application from the existential analytics to the literary field. Whit it pretends to relate the conception of existence and death from Heidegger's philosophical thought with Vallejo's literary representation. To this target are analyzed the peculiar terms from fields and authors chosen and are contrasted in search for affinity. Finally, the text concludes with a coincidence between the thinking of the philosopher and litterateur. (shrink)

En las lecciones sobre estética de Hegel, la épica se presenta como un género poético que refleja la totalidad de un mundo histórico. Los poemas homéricos capturaron lo esencial de la realidad y modelaron las representaciones y la autoconciencia histórica de los griegos. En este sentido, el trabajo se centra en la función histórica de la poesía épica según Hegel, y su papel en la configuración de la eticidad en la sociedad griega, en relación con lo que Marcel Detienne denominó (...) “proceso de secularización”, en el que los aspectos más importantes de la vida social y política de la antigua Grecia dejaron de tener su fundamento en el sistema de representaciones religiosas y empezaron a depender de la deliberación y de la palabra dialogada. A partir de Hegel, y en diálogo con Detienne, el trabajo examina la manifestación de este proceso en la épica, a través de algunos elementos de la Ilíada, como la “palabra-diálogo” presente en las asambleas de guerreros. Para tal fin, exploramos la concepción hegeliana de la poesía épica y de la relación entre los poemas homéricos y la autoconciencia histórica de los griegos. Concluimos que la épica desempeñó un papel crucial en la consolidación de la secularización, aunque ello implicó la pérdida de la preeminencia de aquellas figuras que antaño estaban directamente conectadas con lo divino. (shrink)

This article investigates the use of communication media for the development of cultural extension activities carried out by the Universidad de Antioquia and the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana between 1935 and 1953. On the basis of critical reviews on diverse documentary sources, it is described and analyzed how both institutions, following national and international benchmarks, developed strategies such as the publication of journals and the creation of radio broadcast stations over the years, which became relevant tools to extend and amplify the (...) work carried out within their respective academic cloisters. The review of the Revista Universidad de Antioquia, the Revista Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and the program bulletins and programming grids of Emisora ​​Cultural Universidad de Antioquia and Radio Bolivariana, allowed us to state that, through their stations, magazines and classrooms, both universities tried to give the city, the region and the country their version of what they understood by culture. In doing so, they faced their own limitations, mainly the weakness of their infrastructure and the scarcity of their resources to participate in an increasingly competitive, professional, diverse market that was heading in a decidedly commercial direction. Added to this were the tensions and contradictions inherent to projects of this type, which faced the challenge of disseminating cultural expressions that, paradoxically, were considered minority and, in that sense, hardly acceptable and enjoyable beyond the layers with a prolonged formal education. (shrink)

Contiene una sección especial sobre Filosofía Latinoamericana, donde hay ponencias de los siguientes autores: Carlos Alemián, Abelardo Barra Ruatta, Alberto Buela y Oscar Wingartz Plata. Además, sobre Arturo A. Roig (dos artículos, uno de Estela Fernández y otro de Marisa Muñoz, Dante Ramaglia y Oscar Zalazar); sobre ensayo y fenomenología en América Latina (Clara Alicia Jalif de Bertranou); sobre Agustín Alvarez (Dante Ramaglia); y sobre Simón Rodríguez (Oscar Salazar). De otras secciones destacamos una ponencia de Arturo A. Roig sobre la (...) historia de las ideas y la filosofía latinoamericana, y otras dos, una sobre Mariátegui (Néstor Kohan) y la segunda sobre Andrés Mercado Vera (Isabel Luchetta)"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58. (shrink)

RESUMEN El artículo responde algunas críticas planteadas por Ignacio Ávila a mi interpretación de la epistemología davidsoniana. Presento argumentos en contra de: a) que sea necesario distinguir entre representaciones epistemológicamente “peligrosas”e “inofensivas”; b) que el empirismo mínimo sea un tipo de realismo directo; c) que mi uso de la expresión “evidencia distal” y el interés por la teoría de la correspondencia sean asuntos ajenos a Davidson. Finalmente, sostengo que la triangulación es un elemento fundamental de la epistemología davidsoniana, pues permite (...) sortear la ansiedad realista manteniéndose en una postura no representacionalista. ABSTRACT In this article, I respond to some of Ignacio Ávila's criticisms of my interpretation of Davidson’s epistemology. I argue against: a) the need to distinguish between epistemologically “dangerous” and “harmless” representations; b) the idea that minimal empiricism is a kind of direct realism; and c) the claim that my usage of the expression “distal evidence” and interest in the theory of correspondence are issues that do not pertain to Davidson. Finally, I claim that triangulation is a key element in Davidsonian epistemology since it allows us to deal with the realist anxiety while maintaining a non-representationalist viewpoint. (shrink)

Cualquier lector que haya pasado con cierto respeto sobre las líneas escritas en los Escolios tendrá sin más que compartir irremediablemente dos sentimientos con Ernesto Volkening, a saber: primero, la familiaridad que produce el escolio al ser leído a la luz de la tradición occidental; segundo, la necesidad de conectarlo con su propia experiencia vital, como un complemento de su propia historia. Si en cualquier caso “la lectura compromete la vida misma” (Abad et al., 2020, p. XIII), leer a Nicolás (...) Gómez Dávila toca en lo más íntimo de lo que en realidad somos. De allí que sus anotaciones nos conecten con nuestra intimidad y nuestra historia; sobre este asunto se detiene el ensayista de Amberes, retomando y resaltando algunos de los escolios escritos por el bogotano. (shrink)

El De dogmatibus ecclesiasticis de Genadio de Marsella se encuentra próximo a la tradición de los símbolos, compilaciones doctrinarias de consulta ágil, por su estructura interna y contenidos. El examen del tratado genadiano contribuye a delimitar su contexto de composición, así como las preferencias dogmáticas de su autor. The De dogmatibus ecclesiasticis of Gennadius of Massilia is close to the tradition of symbols, easy to read doctrinal compilations, because of its structure and contents. The exam of Gennadius’ book contributes to (...) define its composition context and its author’s dogmatic choices. (shrink)

El problema que se pretende resolver en este texto es el aporte del diálogo filosófico como unaaventura y experiencia que cura. El texto se justifica toda vez que ante una experiencia filosófica enla que las preguntas fundamentales parecen ser la fuente del quehacer filosófico, aparece el diálogocomo una excelente oportunidad de transformar la existencia y curar los males que aquejan alhombre postmoderno. El objetivo del texto se enmarca en la experiencia vital del filósofo quese ha dedicado toda su vida a (...) dar respuesta a inquietudes existenciales pero que en los actualesmomentos le apuesta al diálogo como la mejor manera de curar los males que nos aquejan. Laexperiencia curativa desde el filosofar transforma al ser humano y lo prepara para enfrentarlas grandes problemáticas de su quehacer cotidiano. La metodología utilizada fue de enfoquedescriptivo en la que las fuentes permitieron acercarse a la argumentación dialógica del filosofar.La experiencia íntima de la filosofía se da gracias al diálogo filosófico que, más que método, es unaexperiencia que posibilita la relación conmigo mismo, con los otros y con las cosas a través de lapalabra, la razón y la sensación que surge en el devenir mismo del diálogo; esto es lo que lleva aentender el diálogo como una experiencia que cura y transforma. Por medio del diálogo filosófico,se logra un autoconocimiento que tiene el poder de curar, sanar, reparar y transformar a la personahumana, al “hombre de carne y hueso”. (shrink)

This paper critically examines the forays into metaphysics of The Dual Nature of Technical Artifacts Program (henceforth, DNP). I argue that the work of DNP is a valuable contribution to the epistemology of certain aspects of artifact design and use, but that it fails to advance a persuasive metaphysic. A central problem is that DNP approaches ontology from within a functionalist framework that is mainly concerned with ascriptions and justified beliefs. Thus, the materiality of artifacts emerges only as the external (...) conditions of realizability of function ascription. The work of DNP has a strong programmatic aspect and much of its foray into metaphysics is tentative, so the intent of my argument is partly synthetic: to sum up these issues as they are presented in the literature and highlight some recognized problems. But I also go beyond that, suggesting that these problems are foundational, arising from the very way in which DNP poses the question of artifact metaphysics. Although it sets out to incorporate objective aspects of technology, DNP places a strong focus on the intentional side of the purported matter-mind duality, bracketing off materiality in an irretrievable manner. Thus, some of the advantages of dualism are lost. I claim that DNP is dualistic, not merely based on “duality”, but that its version of dualism does not appropriately account for the material “nature” of artifacts. The paper ends by suggesting some correctives and alternatives to Dual Nature theory. (shrink)

Este texto busca ahondar en algunos de los ejes que articulan la discusión filosófica sobre la noción de archivo. Dicha discusión se ha subsumido en el denominado “ archival turn ” que recorrería el campo de estudios de las humanidades y las ciencias sociales durante las últimas tres décadas. Sin embargo, en este trabajo mostraremos que la reflexión filosófica previa, llevada a cabo por autores como Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault y Jacques Derrida, entre otros, transforma el sentido convencional de la (...) noción de archivo en el transcurso del siglo XX, hasta el punto de volver paradójico el propio diagnóstico sobre el actual giro del archivo. A partir de aquí, el texto propone ahondar en cuatro dimensiones que atraviesan, de un modo u otro, la discusión filosófica sobre el archivo: 1) el carácter inorgánico latente en todo archivo; 2) el desbordamiento del lugar del archivo, 3) el vínculo del archivo con una economía general de poder, y 4) el problema del acceso al archivo. El análisis de estas cuatro dimensiones, derivadas de su problematización filosófica, nos obliga a sostener el carácter irresoluble de la propia cuestión del archivo y, al mismo tiempo, el ineludible vínculo entre sus aspectos teóricos y políticos. (shrink)

Value is an inescapable part of the human experience and what life must be like for a conscious and feeling person. Philosophical questions about value are therefore naturally invited: What sort of thing would value be if it were part of the furniture of the world? How should we understand the relations that value is thought to stand in to other things? In a broad sense, these are formal questions calling for philosophical studies into the understanding of value notions. The (...) following work represents one such study. Its main concern lies specifically with the notion of final value, the idea that things can be good or bad for their own sakes. (shrink)

The idea of inclusive collective decision-making is important in establishing democratic legitimacy, but it fails when citizens are excluded. Stated-preference methods of valuation, which are commonly used in economics, have been criticised because the principle of willingness to pay may exclude low-income earners who do not have the capacity to pay. Deliberative valuation has been advocated as a way to overcome this problem, but deliberation may also be exclusive. In this review, two deliberative valuation frameworks are compared. The first is (...) grounded on the idea of rational discourse that emphasises argument at the expense of other communicative strategies. It seeks to secure inclusion through procedural rules and prerequisites, but fails to address the underlying democratic limitation of argumentation. The second does not rely on the distinction between rational and rhetorical speech, and therefore admits alternative forms of communication. This approach recognises differences in the communicative capacities and practices of those who take part in deliberation, and so is better equipped to improve, though not to guarantee, inclusion. (shrink)

Philosophers have applied the framework of constitutive grounds to make sense of the disagreement between subjectivism and objectivism. The framework understands the two theories as being involved in a disagreement about the extent to which value is determined by attitudes. Although the framework affords us with some useful observations about how this should be interpreted, the question how value can be determined by attitudes in the first place is left largely unanswered. Here we explore the benefits of a positive interpretation (...) which aims to address this oversight and make the framework more informative. This interpretation, which is inspired by the recent work of Schroeder and Sobel, claims that the relevant sense in which value can be determined by attitudes is discovered by seeing how facts can be endowed with the normative property of being a reason. We argue that this interpretation significantly deepens our understanding of the disagreement between subjectivism and objectivism. (shrink)

We study notions of independence appropriate for a stability theory of metric abstract elementary classes (for short, MAECs). We build on previous notions used in the discrete case, and adapt definitions to the metric case. In particular, we study notions that behave well under superstability‐like assumptions. Also, under uniqueness of limit models, we study domination, orthogonality and parallelism of Galois types in MAECs.

In this paper I critically examine the notion of explanation used in Artificial Intelligence in general, and in the theory of belief revision in particular. I focus on two of the best known accounts in the literature: Pagnucco’s abductive expansion functions and Gärdenfors’ counterfactual analysis. I argue that both accounts are at odds with the way in which this notion has historically been understood in philosophy. They are also at odds with the explanatory strategies used in actual scientific practice. At (...) the end of the paper I outline the desiderata for an epistemologically motivated, scientifically informed belief revision model for explanation. (shrink)

We study versions of limit models adapted to the context of metric abstract elementary classes. Under categoricity and superstability-like assumptions, we generalize some theorems from 7, 15-17. We prove criteria for existence and uniqueness of limit models in the metric context.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:The Impact of Aristotelianism on Modern PhilosophyJean-Robert ArmogatheRiccardo Pozzo, editor. The Impact of Aristotelianism on Modern Philosophy. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004. Pp. xvi + 336. Cloth, $69.95.The status of a "great" philosopher is to stand out for centuries, asking questions in such a way that the answers can never be definitive. Not so many of them are able to stand such a severe (...) proof. Aristotle phrased some questions we are still groping to answer. It was a very good idea to ask thirteen scholars to deliver a lecture series at the Catholic University of America during the Fall 1999 about the reception of Aristotle's theory of intellectual virtues (Nich. Ethics VI). The speakers did not stick to this issue, and enlarged their purpose to a general approach of Aristotle's receptions in various moments of Western modern philosophy.Edward Mahoney complements Charles Schmitt's basic introduction to Aristotle and the Renaissance, with some very valuable pages about Cardinal Bessarion's contribution to the Byzantine debate aroused in 1439 by Plethon's comparison between Plato and Aristotle (in favor of the former). Along with Charles Schmitt, Antonino Poppi is the best specialist of the Paduan tradition, and wrote a very qualified paper about Zabarella (1533-89), who shaped Aristotelianism into the rigorous science of the schoolbooks: for centuries, Aristotle is read through Zabarella's glasses. Apart from a bird's view on recent Galilean studies (where Alistair Crombie is not mentioned), William A. Wallace makes his point about Aristotle's influence on Galilean logics, linking Galileo's 1640 letter to Liceti (where he states that, in matters of logic, he has been an Aristotelian all his life) to the scientist's deep knowledge as revealed by the logical questions in one of the juvenile treatises (ms 27 in Florence, more thoroughly studied in Wallace's book, Galileo's Logic of Discovery and Proof [Dordrecht, 1992]). John Doyle, a specialist of Late Scholastic Philosophy, figures out a [End Page 209] strange character, the French Jesuit André Semery (1630-1717), who taught for thirty years at the Collegium romanum. In a very anti-Aristotelian way, he holds a definite belief in metaphysical beings of reason. The boundary between what we can think and say is quietly stepped over, when Semery and other Jesuits begin to think about thinking, opening a very modern path which leads to Brentano and Quine. Christia Mercer states that Leibniz's combination of a Platonist epistemology with an Aristotelian conception of nature brings a very innovative view in ethics. A very forceful paper by Richard L. Velkley compares Rousseau's politics to Aristotle's view of man (the paper became a chapter of his 2002 impressive book Being after Rousseau), while Riccardo Pozzo gives a short presentation of Aristotle's reception in modern Germany, and an elaborate analysis of Kant's debt to Aristotle for the intellectual virtues. Hegel's appropriation of Aristotelian intellect is presented by Alfredo Ferrarin, while Michael Davis reconstructs Nietzsche's path from Aristotle to the tragedy and back, in a very convincing way. Husserl (Richard Cobb-Stevens), Heidegger (Stanley Rosen), Wittgenstein (Daniel Dahlstrom) and Gadamer (Enrico Berti) conclude brilliantly the series, showing how the thought of the Stagirite fertilized contemporary philosophers, in a permanent dialogue of disagreement or borrowing, never at rest, and never leaving anyone indifferent. The old Greek man remains a vivid debater for our age of anxiety.Jean-Robert ArmogatheThe University of Paris-SorbonneCopyright © 2005 Journal of the History of Philosophy, Inc.... (shrink)

This paper analyzes the impact that Lamarckian evolutionary theory had in the scientific community during the period between the advent of Zoological Philosophy and the publication Origin of Species. During these 50 years Lamarck’s model was a well known theory and it was discussed by the scientific community as a hypothesis to explain the changing nature of the fossil record throughout the history of Earth. Lamarck’s transmutation theory established the foundation of an evolutionary model introducing a new way to research (...) in nature. Darwin’s selectionist theory was proposed in 1859 to explain the origin of species within this epistemological process. In this context, Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology and Auguste Comte’s Cours de Philosophie Positive appear as two major works for the dissemination of Lamarck’s evolutionary ideology after the death of the French naturalist in 1829. (shrink)

Depending on the dissemination of discursive forms through linguistic practices as well as a particular change in our contemporary doxa, the development language of collective social improvement has been based upon a particular mode of ontological naturalism. In a renewed version of the ontological mode that Descola termed “naturalism”, international development has set social expectations in terms of a progressive future framed by violent ruptures, crises, perils and a threat actual of human annihilation. This paper investigates how this developmental enterprise (...) and the consequent ideology of “developmentalism” have further expanded a bi-polar ontology. Since its inception, it articulates two radical sets of possibilities: one of infinite progress for humankind and one of its total annihilation according to the well-known metaphysics of possibilism. First, I will show how the institutionalization of development goes hand in hand with the emergence of a new form of naturalism that accentuates extreme possibilities as results of human action. My main claim here is that, after World War II, science and technology radicalized naturalism through the institutionalization of a new ideology. By presupposing a new transformational capability of science and technology, developmentalism furthers the naturalistic ontology. (shrink)

Some versions of moral naturalism are faulted for implausibly denying that moral obligations and prescriptions entail categorical reasons for action. Categorical reasons for action are normative reasons that exist and apply to agents independently of whatever desires they have. I argue that several defenses of moral naturalism against this charge are unsuccessful. To be a tenable meta-ethical theory, moral naturalism must accommodate the proposition that, necessarily, if anyone morally ought to do something, then s/he has a categorical reason to do (...) it. Versions of moral naturalism that deny this claim would, if widely believed, disable some crucial practical uses of moral concepts. In particular, if the existence of normative reasons for action is taken to be dependent on agents’ desires, it would breed profound skepticism about the legitimacy of evaluating others’ actions from a moral point of view. Also, it would raise doubts about whether people ought to correct their own behavior in light of moral considerations. Following Richard Joyce, I take these consequences to indicate that the concept of a categorical reason is a “non-negotiable” part of moral concepts. (shrink)

Background conditions are thought to explain how objects can have value in virtue of certain features and how reasons can consist in certain facts. The following paper provides an account of what background conditions are and what effect they have on normative features. It defends the idea that if values depend on reasons, then there is nothing really surprising or mysterious about the presence of background conditions in normative explanations. Background conditions turn out to be a natural and predictable result (...) of normative hierarchies that treat reasons as metaphysically fundamental relative to other normative features. The account is also shown to have advantages over competing accounts in that it is able to capture the functional criteria that characterize background conditions while remaining theoretically parsimonious. (shrink)

Historiographical accounts typically place the formulation of the first embryological theory of the evolutionary origin of vertebrates after the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. However, the French naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire developed an embryological evolutionary model in the 1820s that followed the Lamarckian theory. Geoffroy was the first to establish a direct embryological relationship between vertebrates and invertebrates. This idea was not forgotten, and the embryologists Anton Dohrn and Carl Semper subsequently updated it in their annelid theory (...) as part of a debate about the origin of vertebrates that occurred during the latter part of the nineteenth century. This paper reviews the traditional historiography, analyzing and integrating Geoffroy’s model into the current body of ideas. (shrink)

The use of metaphors and other tropes in science receives nowadays growing attention among the philosophers of science, mainly when related to theoretical models. In this paper I analyse basically issues like the cognitive value of scientific metaphors, the role played by analogy in the constructions of metaphors, and, mainly, the question of whether theoretical models are metaphors. Throughout the analysis of different current approaches to the relationships between metaphors and models in science, I claim that the analogy only plays (...) a fundamental role in the metaphorical proposals in science after analogue theoretical models are at our disposal. This nonetheless does not preclude for the analogy to become sometimes a guide in scientific creativity. (shrink)

I argue that there can be value relations without individual values to support them. The fact that an item is better than another item does not have to be explained by reference to the values of the individual items. Instead, value relations can be grounded directly and exhaustively in descriptive facts about their relata. I show that my suggestion fits well with plausible perspectives on the nature of values and reasons, respectively. One of them is the fitting‐attitudes view, according to (...) which facts about value and value relations are facts about reasons for attitudes. The other is the descriptive view, according to which facts about reasons for attitudes can be grounded directly and exhaustively in descriptive considerations. (shrink)

Explanation and understanding are intimately connected notions, but the nature of that connection has generally not been considered a topic worthy of serious philosophical investigation. Most authors have avoided making reference to the notion of understanding in their accounts of explanation because they fear that any mention of the epistemic states of the individuals involved compromises the objectivity of explanation. Understanding is a pragmatic notion, they argue, and pragmatics should be kept at a safe distance from the universal features of (...) explanation. My main contention in this dissertation is that there is a sense in which it is meaningful and useful to talk about objective understanding, and that to characterize this notion it is necessary to formulate an account of objective explanation that makes reference to the beliefs and epistemic goals of the participants in a cognitive enterprise. ;My account of explanation is based on the belief-doubt model of inquiry first proposed by Peirce. Using the tools provided by decision theory, and the models of belief revision developed by Isaac Levi and by Alchourron, Gardenfors, and Makinson, I analyze the objective and pragmatic conditions that a piece of information must fulfill to be both explanatory and epistemically useful to an inquiring agent. The objective basis for an explanation is provided by the relation of probabilistic relevance that the fact described by the explanans bares to the fact described by the explanandum. But an explanation is much more than its foundation. As an epistemological notion, a potential explanation can only be a bona fide explanation if it becomes part of inquiry, that is, if an agent or a group of agents can see any value in it for their cognitive purposes. I provide a way to evaluate an explanation in terms of its credibility, its content, and its explanatory value. I argue that although an objective measure of the credibility and content of an explanation can be established, in many cases a complete determination of its explanatory value will ultimately depend on the interests and goals of the individual inquirers. (shrink)

This book examines the human ability to participate in moments of joint feeling. It presents an answer to the question concerning the nature of our faculty to share in what might be called episodes of collective affective intentionality. The proposal develops the claim that our capacity to participate in such episodes is grounded in an ability central to our human condition: our capacity to care with one another about certain things. The author provides a phenomenologically adequate account of collective affective (...) intentionality that takes seriously the idea that feelings are at the core of our emotional relation to the world. He details a form of group emotional orientation that relies on the fact that the participating individuals have come to share a number of concerns. Readers will learn that at the heart of a collective affective intentional episode, one does not merely find a set of shared concerns, but also a particular mode of caring. In the end, the argument presented in this monograph makes plausible the idea that the emotions through which humans participate in moments of affective intentional community express our nature. In addition, it shows that the debate on collective affective intentionality also permits us to better understand the relationship between two conflicting philosophical pictures of ourselves: the idea that we are essentially social beings and the claim that we are creatures for whom our personal existence is an issue. Thus, aiming at an elucidation of the nature of our ability to feel together, the book offers a detailed account of what it is to situationally express our human nature by caring about something in a properly joint manner. (shrink)

Aim: The present work proposes the study of the neuromotor activity of the masseter-jaw-tongue articulation during diadochokinetic exercising to establish functional statistical relationships between surface Electromyography, 3D Accelerometry, and acoustic features extracted from the speech signal, with the aim of characterizing Hypokinetic Dysarthria. A database of multi-trait signals of recordings from an age-matched control and PD participants are used in the experimental study. Hypothesis: The main assumption is that information between sEMG and 3D acceleration, and acoustic features may be quantified (...) using linear regression methods. Methods: Recordings from a cohort of eight age-matched control participants and eight PD participants were collected during the utterance of a diadochokinetic exercise. The dynamic and acoustic absolute kinematic velocities produced during the exercises were estimated by acoustic filter inversion and numerical integration and differentiation of the speech signal. The amplitude distributions of the absolute kinematic and acoustic velocities are estimated to allow comparisons in terms of Mutual Information. Results: The regression results show the relationships between sEMG and dynamic and acoustic estimates. The projection methodology may help in understanding the basic neuromotor muscle activity regarding neurodegenerative speech in remote monitoring neuromotor and neurocognitive diseases using speech as the vehicular tool, and in the study of other speech-related disorders. The study also showed strong and significant cross-correlations between articulation kinematics, both for the control and the PD cohorts. The absolute kinematic variables presents an observable difference for the PD participants compared to the control group. Conclusion: Kinematic distributions derived from acoustic analysis may be useful biomarkers toward characterizing HD in neuromotor disorders providing new insights into PD. (shrink)

In this paper I examine the notion of ‘artifact’ and related notions in the dominant version of extended cognition theory grounded on extended functionalism. Although the term is ubiquitous in the literature, it is far from clear what ECT means by it. How are artifacts conceptualized in ECT? Is ‘artifact’ a meaningful and useful category for ECT? If the answer to the previous question is negative, should we worry? Is it important for ECT to have a coherent theory of artifacts? (...) And what are the demands and constraints that ECT imposes on this theory? I distinguish between two aspects of ECT, one narrow, aligned with extended functionalism ; and one broad or pluralistic, in which EF is combined with other theoretical resources in the context of diverse research programs. I begin by determining the problems in conceptualizing artifacts from EF. Then I address the question of why a concept of artifact may be relevant to ECT. Next, I examine the efforts of Richard Heersmink to combine ECT with dominant theories of artifacts in the philosophy of technology. I argue that both approaches fail to yield a meaningful notion of artifact, let alone one of ‘cognitive’ artifact. Finally, I argue that narrow ECT places rather strong constraints on a theory of artifacts, since it locates the specificity of ‘artifact’ in material aspects of realization that are, by definition, outside its theoretical purview. I examine, then discard, the possibility that a materialist and objectivist theory of artifacts may be of help. And finally I briefly explore some ways in which a broad, pluralistic ECT may address some of these shortcomings. (shrink)

When the first edition of Pediatric Psychopharmacology published in 2002, it filled a void in child and adolescent psychiatry and quickly establishing itself as the definitive text-reference in pediatric psychopharmacology. While numerous short, clinically focused paperbacks have been published since then, no competitors with the scholarly breadth, depth, and luster of this volume have emerged. In the second edition, Christopher Kratochvil, MD, a highly respected expert in pediatric psychopharmacology, joins the outstanding editorial team led by Dr. Martin and Dr. Scahill. (...) In the new edition, the editors streamline the flow of information to reflect the growth in scientific data since the first edition appeared. The overall structure of the book remains the same, with major sections on underlying biology; somatic interventions; assessment and treatment; and special considerations. (shrink)