Human language has the characteristic of being open and in some cases polysemic. The word “infinite” is used often in common speech and more frequently in literary language, but rarely with its precise meaning. In this way the concepts can be used in a vague way but an argument can still be structured so that the central idea is understood and is shared with to the partners. At the same time no precise definition is given to the concepts used and (...) each partner makes his own reading of the text based on previous experience and cultural background. In a language dictionary the first meaning of “infinite” agrees with the etymology: what has no end. We apply the word infinite most often and incorrectly as a synonym for “very large” or something that we do not perceive its completion. In this context, the infinite mentioned in dictionaries refers to the idea or notion of the “immeasurably large” although this is open to what the individual’s means by “immeasurably great.” Based on this linguistic imprecision, the authors present a non Cantorian theory of the potential and actual infinite. For this we have introduced a new concept: the homogon that is the whole set that does not fall within the definition of sets established by Cantor. (shrink)

Relations between different religious and philosophical traditions in the Korean Peninsula have gone through periods of harmonious coexistence and other more conflictive ones throughout its history. An important moment of change between a pluralistic society and a society increasingly focused on Confucian thought was during the Goryeo kingdom. The purpose of this article is to show how social changes influence the social recognition of shamanism practices and practitioners in Korea, especially in relation to Confucian public officials. To illustrate these social (...) changes and their influence on the social recognition of the religious practitioner, I will analyse a text that reflects them. The text, which has not previously been translated into Spanish, is a poem by the Confucian scholar Yi Gyubo, Nomupyeon, where we can see well the relationship between the shamans and the Confucian officials during the second half of the Goryeo dynasty. This poem shows the social and political changes that took place in society at this time and how religious practices play an important role in power struggles. The position of shamans in society was changing as the new social, philosophical and religious ideas of Neo-Confucianism were established and spread across the Korean peninsula. In a parallel process, shamanism will become a practice associated with women, with all implications that this means in terms of gender values. These changes will influence the position of the shamans and their recognition by society from then until today in Korea. (shrink)

The liar paradox is a famous and ancient paradox related to logic and philosophy. It shows it is perfectly possible to construct sentences that are correct grammatically and semantically but that cannot be true or false in the traditional sense. In this paper the authors show four approaches to interpreting paradoxes that illustrate the influence of: the levels of language, their belonging to indeterminate compatible propositions or indeterminate propositions, being based on universal antinomy and the theory of dialetheism.

In the Reality we know, we cannot say if something is infinite whether we are doing Physics, Biology, Sociology or Economics. This means we have to be careful using this concept. Infinite structures do not exist in the physical world as far as we know. So what do mathematicians mean when they assert the existence of ω? There is no universally accepted philosophy of mathematics but the most common belief is that mathematics touches on another worldly absolute truth. Many mathematicians (...) believe that mathematics involves a special perception of an idealized world of absolute truth. This comes in part from the recognition that our knowledge of the physical world is imperfect and falls short of what we can apprehend with mathematical thinking. The objective of this paper is to present an epistemological rather than an historical vision of the mathematical concept of infinity that examines the dialectic between the actual and potential infinity. (shrink)

sBuilding models as a practical aspect of ecological theory has as a principal purpose the determination of relations in formal language. In this paper, the authors provide a formalization of ecological models based on impure systems theory. Impure systems contain objects and subjects: subjects are human beings. We can distinguish a person as an observer that by definition is the subject himself and part of the system. In this case he acquires the category of object. Objects are significances, which are (...) the consequence of perceptual beliefs on the part of the subject about material or energetic objects with certain characteristics. The impure system approach is as follows: objects are perceptual significances of material or energetic objects. The set of these objects will form an impure set of the first order. The existing relations between these relative objects will be of two classes: transactions of matter and/or energy and inferential relations. Transactions can have alethic modality: necessity, possibility, impossibility and contingency. In this work we define measures which let us choose the more suitable variables to relate both the model with the ecosystem and with different models. In this way we define different comparison indexes. (shrink)

A semiotic theory of systems derived from language would have the purpose of classifying all the systems of linguistic expression: philosophy, ideology, myth, poetry, art, as much as the dream, lapsus, and free association in a pluridimensional matrix that will interact with many diversified fields. In each one of these discourses it is necessary to consider a plurality of questions, the essence of which will only be comprehensible by the totality; it will be necessary to ask, in the first place, (...) what will be the purpose of this language, what function does it fulfill and for which reason has it been constructed. The concept of World vision (WV) is introduced and its relation with Generalized Collective Conscience (GCC) and Particularized Collective Conscience. Culture implies a particular WV. Culture creates GCC. The semantic field is a structure that formalizes the units of a certain culture constituting a portion of the vision of the Reality that owns this culture. An ecological case is explained. (shrink)

Cinco generaciones de utilitaristas, apoyados en la ciencia social posterior a la revolución marginalista neoclásica, destruyeron la conexión clásica entre la reflexión filosófica normativa y el mundo de los derechos y de las instituciones sociales. El estilo de hacer filosofía política inaugurado por Rawls no sólo prometía romper a su vez con todo eso, sino que, aparentemente, apuntaba a una consciente reanudación de la manera clásica -preutilitarista, preneoclásica- de hacer filosofía política: derechos, virtudes, contratos, clases sociales y entramados institucionales -no (...) sólo utilidades maximizadas por individuos atomísticamente y a -institucionalmente concebidos- volvían al núcleo de una filosofía política que se presentaba como «neocontractualista». En este artículo se argumenta que algunas de las opciones metodológicas asociadas al legado de Rawls explican el que la promesa fuera sólo muy parcialmente cumplida. A partir de la crisis del «rawlsismo metodológico» que se ha hecho patente en los últimos años, los autores, republicanos avant la mode, tratan de explicar el espectacular auge experimentado recientemente -a favor y en contra- por la vieja tradición republicana. (shrink)

En este artículo se realiza un periplo a lo largo de la historia de la península coreana a través de los caminos recorridos por las principales tradiciones religiosas presentes en ella. Analizaremos el papel que han tenido en el modo de entender las relaciones sociales y la creación de mecanismos de inclusión y exclusión dentro de la sociedad coreana. Las interrelaciones establecidas entre ellas como factor que ha contribuido al progreso de la sociedad y que diferentes grupos fueran aceptados o (...) rechazados a lo largo de la historia. Estudiamos como el pensamiento de estas tradiciones religiosas y el modo de entenderlo ha impulsado u obstaculizado los procesos de inclusión y liberación a lo largo de las diferentes etapas de la historia de Corea. (shrink)

This paper refers to a subjective approach to Ecosystems, referred to as Impure Systems to capture a set of fundamental properties. There are four main phenomenological components: directionality, intensity, connection energy and volume. A fundamental question in this approach to Impure Systems is the intensity or forces of a relation. Concepts as the system volume, and propose a system thermodynamic theory based in the Law of Zipf and the temperature of information are introduced. It hints at the possibility of adapting (...) the fractal theory by introducing the fractal dimension of the system. (shrink)

Behavioral interventions have shown promising neuroprotective effects, but the cascade of molecular, brain and behavioral changes involved in these benefits remains poorly understood. Projecte Moviment is a 12-week multi-domain, single-blind, proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial examining the cognitive effect and underlying mechanisms of an aerobic exercise, computerized cognitive training and a combined groups compared to a waitlist control group. Adherence was > 80% for 82/109 participants recruited. In this study we report intervention-related changes in plasma biomarkers and structural-MRI and how they (...) related to changes in physical activity and individual variables and their potential role as mediators in the cognitive changes. Our results show that although there were no significant changes in molecular biomarker concentrations in any intervention group, changes in ICAM-1 and SDF1-α were negatively associated with changes in physical activity outcomes in AE and COMB groups. Brain volume changes were found in the CCT showing a significant increase in precuneus volume. Sex moderated the brain volume change in the AE and COMB groups, suggesting that men may benefit more than women. Changes in molecular biomarkers and brain volumes did not significantly mediate the cognitive-related benefits found previously for any group. This study shows crucial initial molecular and brain volume changes related to lifestyle interventions at early stages and highlights the value of examining activity parameters, individual difference characteristics and using a multi-level analysis approach to address these questions. (shrink)

The term etonism is from «Etona» that means flag, marks, evidence, and reason in Kikôngo. The variants in Umbûndu: etonolo or etonuilo means, allegations, reasons, indulgence (tolerance). The Nyaneka form is etŏnya: 1) reasons, 2) allegations, 3) indulgence and 5) the justice and the tolerance. Etona is Angolan artist (sculptor/painter). In his sculpture they are morphologically evidenced three treatments in the surface of the matter, namely 1) flat treatment; 2) rude treatment and finally 3) accidental treatment. Each one is a (...) code: #1. The flat treatment indicates well-knowledge; a man of superior class; race or tribe or religion of majority; thought well-organized and structured. In painting, the hot intensity indicates dominance, prosperity, energy, intense desires; #2. The rude treatment reveals an acquired knowledge without academism, self-taught; medium class men; speech out of the scientific perimeters but with certain admissibility; race, tribe or religion of lot of people, but not of majority. In his painting, the neutral intensity marks the balance and inspires recomfort nurtured from two opposed poles (hot and cold); #3. The accidental part of the sculpture indicates some knowledge’s lack (pure empiricism); inferior class; race, tribe, religion of minority. In the painting, the cold intensity is naturally contrary of #1. Etonism is the tolerant reason between #1=I, #2=YOU and #3=HE. All of them form the coherent society that we call WE: the Etonian jusphilosophy that African peoples need for stability of their democracies and finishing their War. (shrink)

This paper will show that attempts to control the body in late capitalism are replete with symbolic violence. Filipinos have not succeeded in confining the body, thereby validating Foucault's (1980) critique of the repressive hypothesis. Ordinary narratives about the body in the Philippines exist not in the context of a settled template of silenced debates and repressed desires, but in the explosion of discourse and contestations, and of an intricate articulation between popular knowledge and truth on one hand, and the (...) ordinary and everyday experience of pleasure and desire on the other. (shrink)

Es altamente probable que este siglo que está recién comenzando supere al siglo XX descrito por Hobsbawm como el más sanguinario del que la Historia tenga registro; juicio éste compartido por personajes tan dispares como René Dumont, William Golding e Isaiah Berlin.Vivimos en tiempos violentos. Hemos hasta llegado a perder la capacidad de asombro frente a las diversas manifestaciones de violencia que nos hacen conocer los programas cotidianos de noticias: de una parte aquellas provenientes de..

Scientists are rapidly mapping the chemical and physical pathways that constitute biological systems, making the complexity of processes such as inheritance, development, evolution, and even the origin of life increasingly tractable. Through genetics and neuroscience, biological understanding is now being extended deeply into the human sciences and has begun to transform our understanding of behavior, mind, culture, and values. The idea of a science-driven unity of knowledge has reemerged in several forms in both reductionist and nonreductionist frameworks. This volume examines (...) some of the extraordinary empirical discoveries that have caused a revival of this idea and presents theories from thinkers in a variety of disciplines, including E. O. Wilson, Eric Kandel, and Elaine Scarry. (shrink)

The latest volume in this prestigious series brings together twenty-five global scholars to reflect on the role of Catholic ethicists in the context of their particular, local churches and in light of the ecclesiological shifts following Vatican II.