_Confines of Democracy_ is a collection of critical assessments and interpretations of Richard J. Bernstein’s extensive and illuminating work on pragmatism, epistemology, hermeneutics, and social and political theory, including Bernstein’s replies to the contributors.

Este artículo analiza la dictadura del proletariado desde las revisiones en la coyuntura político-filosófica de los años setenta, marcada por la emergencia de la crisis del marxismo y la revisión antiestalinista de los principales conceptos bolcheviques, hasta la actualidad. Para ello, contrastamos las obras de Antoni Domènech y Étienne Balibar y sus tradiciones filosóficas respectivas destacando sus encuentros y problemas comunes. Por otro lado, hemos decidido acometer la dictadura del proletariado a partir de tres oposiciones: clase contra clase/alianza de clases, (...) dictadura comisaria/dictadura soberana, planificación/mercado. (shrink)

La Revolución Bolivariana es el proceso político iniciado en Venezuela a finales del siglo XX por Hugo Chávez y perpetuado en siglo XXI por Nicolás Maduro. Por originalidad, longevidad, impacto interno e influencia exterior, es uno de los proyectos refundacionales más relevantes de la izquierda revolucionaria iberoamericana tras finalizar la Guerra Fría. Sus múltiples rasgos han propiciado diversas caracterizaciones desde la ciencia política. Se ofrece aquí una aproximación general al respecto, mediante una _periodización_ que permite apreciar la evolución en el (...) tiempo del movimiento y régimen chavista; una breve exposición del _socialismo bolivariano_ como propuesta retórico-ideológica; una descripción sucinta del giro desarrollado en política exterior por parte del gobierno venezolano tras asumir la condición de _estado revolucionario_; y una caracterización general del chavismo-madurismo como movimiento y régimen político, concluyendo que sus rasgos y tendencias totalitarias son las que mejor definen su naturaleza en términos globales. (shrink)

This paper presents an experience in developing professional ethics by an approach that integrates knowledge, teaching methodologies and assessment coherently. It has been implemented for students in both the Software Engineering and Computer Engineering degree programs of the Technical University of Madrid, in which professional ethics is studied as a part of a required course. Our contribution of this paper is a model for formative assessment that clarifies the learning goals, enhances the results, simplifies the scoring and can be replicated (...) in other contexts. A quasi-experimental study that involves many of the students of the required course has been developed. To test the effectiveness of the teaching process, the analysis of ethical dilemmas and the use of deontological codes have been integrated, and a scoring rubric has been designed. Currently, this model is also being used to develop skills related to social responsibility and sustainability for undergraduate and postgraduate students of diverse academic context. (shrink)

La problematización de la pobreza, la criminalización, encierro, reclusión y disciplinamiento de los pobres constituyen factores fundamentales para poder explicar con éxito el nacimiento del primer capitalismo. En este artículo queremos mostrar de qué forma la pobreza, que durante toda la Edad Media había sido naturalizada como una parte más de un orden divino, se convierte, a partir del siglo XVI, en una cuestión problemática que protagoniza apasionados debates. En esta nueva problematización de la pobreza encontraremos los mimbres con los (...) que posteriormente se tejerá toda una tupida red punitiva y disciplinaria que tendrá como propósito la creación de un ejército de trabajadores sumisos en condiciones de miseria. (shrink)

Resumen: El presente artículo realiza un análisis fenomenológico-hermenéutico del concepto kierkegaardiano de instante como síntesis de tiempo y eternidad desde una perspectiva antropológica y existencial. Muestra, primero, el instante concreto como una correlación entre la asunción libre del sujeto de un sentido absoluto para su existencia, y un acontecimiento a través del cual el conjunto de lo que es le requiere decidirse por ese sentido para que pueda vislumbrarse lo absoluto y eterno en el tiempo. En segundo lugar explicita en (...) qué medida el instante requiere de una conjunción de fe y sabiduría, denominada lucidez, para poder concretarse.: The article attempts a phenomenological and hermeneutical analysis of Kierkegaard’s notion of instant conceived as the synthesis of time and eternity from an anthropological and existential viewpoint. It first shows the concrete instant as a correlation between the absolute meaning freely assumed for his existence by a subject and an event by virtue of which the sum total of what he is demands a decision in favor of that meaning as a means to catch a glimpse of the absolute and eternal in time. Secondly, the article explains how the instant requires a conjunction of faith and wisdom, which is termed lucidity, in order to make itself concrete. (shrink)

The analysis of the operation of tourism companies will provide valid information for the design of policies to reactivate the tourism industry, which has been strongly affected during the pandemic generated by COVID-19. The objective of this paper is to use soft computing techniques to analyse tourism companies in Ecuador. First of all, dimensionality reduction methods are applied: principal component analysis, isometric feature mapping and locally linear embedding, on data of tourism enterprises in Ecuador for the year 2015. In addition, (...) to verify the trend of operational variables, the data of tourism companies in Ecuador in 2019 and 2020 are analysed with dimensionality reduction methods that improve the interpretation by minimizing the loss of information. The data sets are analysed with k-means, k-medoids and Hierarchical Clustering, generating groups according to similar characteristics. The optimal number of clusters is determined with the following: Elbow Method, Silhouette Coefficient, Davies-Bouldin Index and Dunn Index. In addition, an analysis of the operation of tourism companies in the year 2020 concerning previous years is included. The study allows exploring Soft Computing techniques to identify important information for the definition of strategies that contribute to an effective reactivation of the tourist industry of Ecuador. (shrink)

El artículo estudia la tercera y última confrontación con el Tratado de la libertad de Schelling que Heidegger sostuvo en 1941. El objetivo consiste en explicar el contexto del problema del acabamiento de la metafísica del idealismo alemán, para analizar la posición que tiene Heidegger de las nociones de diferencia y voluntad forjadas por la filosofía tardía de Schelling; de esta manera, a partir del abismo de la voluntad se muestra la intersección entre la filosofía de la libertad de Schelling (...) y la ontología del evento de Heidegger. (shrink)

¿Por qué decimos que la excepción «confirma» una regla? ¿No sería mejor decir lo opuesto, que las excepciones refutan que esa regla se cumpla? Partiendo de ahí este libro plantea, como afirma en su prólogo el filósofo italiano Mario Perniola, «un tema del todo actual». Empieza defendiendo que, por sorprendente que parezca, sí, una excepción confirma una regla. Ya Cicerón o Leibniz se dieron cuenta de ello. Pero no conviene exagerar con tales excepciones. De hecho, este ensayo aventura que en (...) nuestra cultura, durante los últimos siglos, se ha venido dando todo un ataque a la diferencia entre reglas y excepciones. Ataque que alcanzó su mayor virulencia entre los «maestros de la sospecha» del s. xix: Marx, Nietzsche y Freud. ¿Qué hacer, pues? ¿Cabe creer aún en algunas reglas? El autor sostiene que para ello nos será fecundo aprender de fuentes tan variadas como Ludwig Wittgenstein, la filosofía hermenéutica y un detective de ficción creado por G. K. Chesterton: el padre Brown, mucho más razonable que el mismísimo Sherlock Holmes. (shrink)

We develop a general framework for forcing with coherent adequate sets on [Formula: see text] as side conditions, where [Formula: see text] is a cardinal of uncountable cofinality. We describe a class of forcing posets which we call coherent adequate type forcings. The main theorem of the paper is that any coherent adequate type forcing preserves CH. We show that there exists a forcing poset for adding a club subset of [Formula: see text] with finite conditions while preserving CH, solving (...) a problem of Friedman [Forcing with finite conditions, in Set Theory: Centre de Recerca Matemática, Barcelona, 2003–2004, Trends in Mathematics, pp. 285–295.]. (shrink)

The search for a systems‐level picture of metabolism as a web of molecular interactions provides a paradigmatic example of how the methods used to characterize a system can bias the interpretation of its functional meaning. Metabolic maps have been analyzed using novel techniques from network theory, revealing some non‐trivial, functionally relevant properties. These include a small‐world structure and hierarchical modularity. However, as discussed here, some of these properties might actually result from an inappropriate way of defining network interactions. Starting from (...) the so‐called bipartite organization of metabolism, where the two meaningful subsets (reactions and metabolites) are considered, most current works use only one of the subsets by means of so‐called graph projections. Unfortunately, projected graphs often ignore relevant biological and chemical constraints, thus leading to statistical artifacts. Some of these drawbacks and alternative approaches need to be properly addressed. (shrink)

Globalisation has given rise to a new field of debate due to the growing mobility of the workers and the consequent cultural diversity inside companies. In this sense, a complex world like ours demands a review of the professional profile which should include the so called intercultural competences as a structuring element of companies’ policy and strategic plan. Subsequently it is suggested that, as the intercultural competences affect the cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects, they actually imply a transformation of the (...) person’s identity. (shrink)

There is a substantive disagreement with regard to the characterization of pre-reflective self-awareness despite the key role that is supposed to play for the distinction between conscious and unconscious states. One of the most prominent ones—between egological and non-egological views—is about the role that the subject of experience plays.I show that this disagreement falls short to capture the details of the debate, as it does not distinguish phenomenological and metaphysical disputes. Regarding the former, the contenders disagree on whether pre-reflective self-awareness (...) concerns the subject of experience or the experience itself. I first argue that such an awareness has to be indexical—de se or de mentis respectively—, and then show that de se awareness can straightforwardly address classical objec­tions against egological views, whereas de mentis awareness fails to support epistemological arguments in favor of non-egological ones. The metaphysical commitments of a phenomenologically egological view depend on what the corresponding de se awareness demands from reality. I consider two alternatives, the structural and the representational approach and offer some consid­erations in favor of the later and its prima facie neutrality with regard to the metaphysical dispute. (shrink)

Departing from the results achieved by Luis M. Girón-Negrón in his book on Alfonso de la Torre’s Visión Deleytable, we aim to enlarge and complete the presence of Maimonides’ Guide in the work of Alfonso de la Torre through the consideration of a series of central motives in the Visión. These motives, as indicated by the key words, show the converse substrate of the work as well as the intellectual affinity with the intellectualist tradition present in the 16th and 17th (...) centuries in such philosophers as Pomponazzi, Bruno and Spinoza. (shrink)

Queda mucho por estudiar en la academia española sobre el funcionamiento de la estética transmedial. En algunos ámbitos académicos la «cultura popular» sufre aún del estigma «lo no merecedor de estudio». Por otra parte, su complejidad y el gran número de obras de esta estética hace muy difícil su estudio en conjunto. Una de las maneras más interesantes para acercarse es tomar una base temática fuerte mediante la cual establecer ciertas líneas que enriquezcan su lectura y den cuenta de su (...) relación con la sociedad. Como muestra de acercamiento fractal a la estética transmedial, se propone el estudio del universo transmedial de Star Wars desde el concepto del Mal. En este sentido, se proponen unos primeros ejemplos tomados de diferentes lenguajes para extraer a partir de ellos una muestra de la manera en que Star Wars representa el concepto del Mal y de qué ideologías parte para ello. (shrink)

Emile Durkheim is one of the fathers of sociology. Suicide brings his work conceptual and analytical tools to understand the moral architecture of society. In this article we review these artifacts of social theory, scientifically contrasted his time, able to measure the integrative force of human groups and to identify the variables that determine its operation. Despite the unstoppable individualism that defines our societies, is still valid sociological analysis that accounts for the collective nature of many of our decisions and (...) behaviors. (shrink)

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-021-03136-1.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that affect the intention to use Big Data Applications in companies. Research into Big Data usage intention and adoption is scarce and much less from the perspective of the use of these techniques in companies. That is why this research focuses on analyzing the adoption of Big Data Applications by companies. Further to a review of the literature, it is proposed to use a UTAUT model as a starting model with (...) the update and incorporation of other variables such as resistance to use and perceived risk, and then to perform a neural network to predict this adoption. With respect to this non-parametric technique, we found that the multilayer perceptron model (MLP) for the use of Big Data Applications in companies obtains higher AUC values, and a better confusion matrix. This paper is a pioneering study using this hybrid methodology on the intention to use Big Data Applications. The result of this research has important implications for the theory and practice of adopting Big Data Applications. (shrink)

Through the book reviewed, and despite the unique peculiarities of Arendt's thought, Carlos Kohn explains the reasons why it could be considered as a fundamental element of civic republicanism and radical/agonistic democracy. From this position, not only is the presumably superior dignity of the public space proclaimed with respect to the private one, but also a clear opposition to the liberal doctrine would be raised, which appeals to the individual as "subject of instrumental reason" and as "object of social and (...) legal order of representative democracy ”. Kohn shares some liberal postulates, but points out with Arendt the primacy of positive freedom and calls for an "awakening" of citizenship to materialize this "agonistic-republican" project. This search that Kohn raises in an Arendtian key, however, is confronted with the need for politics to offer results to concrete problems, aspects in which the factuality and validity of the liberal proposal cannot yet be ruled out. (shrink)