O presente artigo aborda numa perspectiva filosófica a relação entre a divisão das artes belas propostas por Kant e Hegel. Objetiva explicitar as aproximações e distanciamentos entre a divisão das belas artes apresentadas pelos filósofos citados, apontando suas semelhanças e diferenças. Fundamenta sua análise nas obras Crítica da Faculdade do Juízo de 1790 e Cursos de Estética de 1820-21, respectivamente elaboradas por Immanuel Kant e Friedrich Hegel. Realiza uma análise comparativa entre a divisão das artes belas kantiana e hegeliana. Apresenta (...) inicialmente a divisão das artes belas na perspectiva kantiana, abordando o conceito de arte bela, sua classificação e sua hierarquia, segundo o filósofo de Königsberg. Em seguida, expõe a divisão das artes segundo Hegel, apresentando o seu conceito de belo artístico, as formas de arte simbólica, clássica e romântica, expondo e analisando também as artes particulares de acordo com o filósofo de Stuttgart. Conclui afirmando que, apesar das diferenças entre ambas análises sobre a divisão das belas artes, tais como a defesa de Hegel em relação belo artístico e a de Kant ao belo natural, a afirmação hegeliana que há uma ciência do belo enquanto a concepção kantiana é de que não há ciência do belo, por exemplo, os filósofos em destaque concordam, entre outros aspectos, que a poesia ocupa o lugar mais alto na hierarquia das belas artes, sendo a mais livre e espiritual delas. (shrink)

I argue against the tendency in the philosophy of science literature to link abduction to the inference to the best explanation (IBE), and in particular, to claim that Peireean abduction is a conceptual predecessor to IBE. This is not to discount either abduction or IBE. Rather the purpose of this paper is to clarify the relation between Peireean abduction and IBE in accounting for ampliative inference in science. This paper aims at a proper classification—not justification—of types of scientific reasoning. In (...) particular, I claim that Peireean abduction is an in-depth account of the process of generating explanatory hypotheses, while IBE, at least in Peter Lipton's thorough treatment, is a more encompassing account of the processes both of generating and of evaluating scientific hypotheses. There is then a two-fold problem with the claim that abduction is IBE. On the one hand, it conflates abduction and induction, which are two distinct forms of logical inference, with two distinct aims, as shown by Charles S. Peirce; on the other hand it lacks a clear sense of the full scope of IBE as an account of scientific inference. (shrink)

Henry David Thoreau’s discussion of the highest value of wild apples and my own reflection upon my experience, interacting with the sea and enjoying its products during my Central American upbringing, motivate this discussion of how human beings may apprehend nature’s highest worth. I propose that in order to apprehend nature’s highest value it is necessary to understand the complete transaction between human beings and nature—an active transaction that requires from the human being a continuous movement along experience, reflection, and (...) responsible action. I argue that the economic valuation of natural products—via the contemporary economic concepts of utility, use-value, existence-value, and willingness-to-pay—is insufficient to comprehend the full worth of nature because it reduces the human being-nature transaction to mere economic terms. Hence, a reading of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature provides insight into the services—commodity, beauty, language, and discipline—that the human being receives, as part of the transaction, from nature. In turn, a reading of Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac complements the Emersonian position by considering the human being’s position as a member of a natural community. Finally, I propose that in order to apprehend the worth of nature, it is further necessary to move from the reflective understanding of the human being-nature transaction into necessary action, that is, into the assumption of responsibility towards nature. (shrink)

In Jurismania, Paul Campos asserts that our legal system is beginning to exhibit symptoms of serious mental illness. Trials and appeals that stretch out for years and cost millions, 100 page appellate court opinions, 1,000 page statutes before which even lawyers tremble with fear, and a public that grows more litigious every day all testify to a judicial overkill that borders on obsessive-compulsive disorder. Campos locates the source of such madness, paradoxically, in our worship of reason and the (...) resulting belief that all problems are amenable to legal solutions. In insightful discussions of a wide range of cases, from NCAA regulations of student-athletes to the Simpson trial, from our most intractable social disputes over abortion and physician-assisted suicide to the war on drugs and the increasingly fastidious attempts to regulate behavior in public spaces, Campos shows that the mania for more law exacerbates the very problems it seeks to remedy. In his final chapter, the author calls instead for a humbling recognition of the limits of reason and a much more modest role for our legal system. Clearly written and laced with a delicious wit, Jurismania gives us a CAT-scan of the American legal mind at work. It reveals not only that the patient is even worse off than we imagined, but also clarifies the many reasons why. (shrink)

The place of the State in Spinoza's ontology has emerged in scholarly literature as one of the most complex issues involving Spinoza's political thought. At issue is whether Spinoza's State is an actual individual with its own conatus . Some consider it a completely real individual, others say that its individuality can only be metaphoric, whilst others point out the conceptual insufficiency of this polarity for explaining the ontological status of political aggregates and try to overcome it through new concepts, (...) such as the multitude, transindividuality, and figuration. In this paper, each of these interpretations is analyzed and dismissed in favour of a new one stating that Spinoza's State is actually a dynamic network of political concepts operating in resemblance of individuality and reflecting the main characteristics of the modern Nation-State. (shrink)

Este trabajo esboza una forma de justificar el principio estructurador central de una teoría veritista de la evaluación epistémica, en respuesta a críticas planteadas por Eleonora Cresto a mi defensa del veritismo frente a una serie de objeciones en el sentido de que no es capaz de explicar la naturaleza y el valor del entendimiento. La primera sección presenta el esbozo de justificación del núcleo de una teoría veritista; la segunda responde a críticas más específicas de Cresto. This paper sketches (...) a way to justify the central tenet of a veritistic theory of epistemic evaluation, in response to problems raised by Eleonora Cresto concerning my defense of veritism, against a series of objetions to the effect that veritistic epistemology is uncapable of explaining the nature and value of understanding. The first section presents the sketch of justification of the nucleus of a veritistic theory, the second responds to some of Cresto's more specific criticisms. (shrink)

A IMPORTÂNCIA DE TRATAMENTO DE ÁGUAS RESIDUAIS ATRAVÉS DA BIORREMEDIAÇÃO: UMA ANÁLISE PRINCIPIOLÓGICA.

From our deep interest in the neuroconstructivist framework, we would like to comment on two fundamental aspects of Mareschal et al.'s work: the role of neuroconstructivism for clinical work with people suffering from developmental disorders; and the relation between the process of progressive specialization and the increasing abstraction of representations in development.

In this commentary, we raise two issues. First, we argue that in any species, the comparative study of metacognitive abilities must be approached from a developmental perspective and not solely from the adult end state. This makes it possible to explore the trajectories by which different species reach their phenotypic outcome and whether different cognitive systems interact over developmental time. Second, using our research comparing different genetic disorders in humans, we challenge the authors' claim that it is unparsimonious to interpret (...) the same performance in humans and animals in qualitatively different ways, because even the same overt behaviour in different groups of humans can be sustained by different underlying cognitive processes. (shrink)

One hundred years ago, most wars occurred between nations; today, large-scale violent conflict consists almost exclusively of civil wars in which civilians constitute 30 percent of casualties.’ According to a recent World Bank study of conflict, the poorest one-sixth of the worlds population suffers four-fifths of the consequences of civil wars. While poverty is the greatest risk factor determining a nation’s likelihood of entering into conflict, it is also one of instability’s most predictable consequencet—thus, war is a vicious cycle, and (...) poor nations may remain at risk for intense violence for years or even decades. (shrink)

I address the philosophical debate over whether the mathematical theory of probability arose on the basis of empirical observations or of purely theoretical speculations. The debate tends to pose a strict dichotomy between empirical problem-solving and pure theorizing. I alternatively suggest that, in the case of mathematical probability, an empirical problem-context acted as an enabling condition for the possibility of mathematical innovation, but that the activity of the early mathematical probabilists gradually became the study of a theoretical system of ideas. (...) This case has some implications for a more general philosophical view on the context of mathematical discovery. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------. (shrink)

Time has a highly unstable place between the objective and the subjective. On the one side, there are very well known philosophical arguments trying to show that time has only a subjective reality, even that it is merely a subjective epiphenomenon. On the other side, we are compelled to take points of view as non dispensable elements of reality, at least of a reality capable of containing beings like us. And points of view offer a world of temporal entities existing (...) in an objective way. Moreover, points of view themselves appear to be temporal entities among other temporal entities. We analyse both aspects of time. Our main focus will be McTaggart’s arguments against the reality of a fluent time, what he called temporal series of kind A. We will distinguish three very different arguments in McTaggart works. We analyse them in detail. And we reject their conclusive character. Our final target is to maintain that there is a room for fluent time in what is internal to points of view but external to the subjects adopting those points of view. (shrink)

This book seeks to arrive at a better understanding of the relationships between the objective and subjective aspects of time. It discusses the existence of fluent time, a controversial concept in many areas, from philosophy to physics. Fluent time is understood as directional time with a past, a present and a future. We experience fluent time in our lives and we adopt a temporal perspective in our ways of knowing and acting. Nevertheless, the existence of fluent time has been debated (...) for both philosophical and scientific reasons, thus creating a rift between the subjective and objective aspects of time. Starting from the basic notion of points of view, or perspectives, this book explores the relationships between objective or external time, as it has been conceptualized by science, and subjective or internal time, which is involved in our lived experiences. It establishes a general framework encompassing the nature, structure and mode of existence of points of view, in which the objective and subjective aspects of time can be integrated. The book mainly addresses researchers and postgraduates in philosophy and logic. Additionally, it offers inspiration for physicists and computer scientists involved in the modeling and simulation of complex behaviors for which the representation of internal time should be considered together with the notion of objective, external time. (shrink)

This book seeks to arrive at a better understanding of the relationships between the objective and subjective aspects of time. It discusses the existence of fluent time, a controversial concept in many areas, from philosophy to physics. Fluent time is understood as directional time with a past, a present and a future. We experience fluent time in our lives and we adopt a temporal perspective in our ways of knowing and acting. Nevertheless, the existence of fluent time has been debated (...) for both philosophical and scientific reasons, thus creating a rift between the subjective and objective aspects of time. Starting from the basic notion of points of view, or perspectives, this book explores the relationships between objective or external time, as it has been conceptualized by science, and subjective or internal time, which is involved in our lived experiences. It establishes a general framework encompassing the nature, structure and mode of existence of points of view, in which the objective and subjective aspects of time can be integrated. The book mainly addresses researchers and postgraduates in philosophy and logic. Additionally, it offers inspiration for physicists and computer scientists involved in the modeling and simulation of complex behaviors for which the representation of internal time should be considered together with the notion of objective, external time. (shrink)

A theory of intergenerational justice consists in the study of the moral and political status of the relations between present and past or future people, more specifically, of the obligations and entitlements they can potentially generate. The challenges that justify talking about responsibilities between generations are myriad. And the disputes they prompt can focus on the past just as much as on the present, even though the fact that the human species has reached a state of technological progress that enables (...) it to have an irredeemable impact on the planet and perhaps even endanger future human existence tends to make concerns about the future more pressing. Debates on intergenerational justice are twofold. The first revolves around the issue of whether claims of justice across generations whose members' lifetimes do not necessarily overlap could be justified. And the second revolves around the specific conception of justice in play, that is, around the nature of the standard that must be applied as well as around the identification of the contents of the duties that present generations supposedly have vis-à-vis past or future generations. This survey article depicts the conceptual and argumentative framework in which these debates are set. It aims to outline certain of the main features shared by the most influential contemporary theories of intergenerational justice, and the problems inherent in them. It concludes by suggesting that, even though the idea of succeeding generations is merely an abstraction, there are specific empirical states of affairs that require different theoretical responses to intergenerational justice. (shrink)

A escala mundial, el problema del agua no consiste tanto en su volumen de existencias como en su reparto desigual. En este artículo, tras hacer algunas consideraciones acerca de la importancia del agua para la civilización y de su accesibilidad en general, se describen diversas limitaciones causadas por el hombre y cómo se utiliza ante las demandas provocadas por la presión demográfica. El trabajo concluye con una sección dedicada al Mediterráneo en la que se apuntan vías de solución para su (...) escasez, sobre todo en la zona Sur. (shrink)

The book forms a balanced structure in which the three conceptual pillars of Spinoza's natural law theory (individuality, natural laws, and power) are first analyzed from the viewpoint of his ontology and then from the viewpoint of his ...

La metafísica puede entenderse como una disciplina cuyo objeto son entidades inteligibles, pero es también y, sobre todo, comienza siendo una interpretación de la naturaleza. La inversión nietzscheana del platonismo tiene en la crítica del finalismo uno de sus rasgos principales. La oposición aparente/verdadero, desde esta perspectiva, se explica en función de la ausencia o la presencia de finalidad en la interpretación de la naturaleza, pero a juicio de Nietzsche la finalidad forma parte de la apariencia y no de la (...) realidad del mundo natural. Independientemente de la valoración y de la genealogía que atribuye al pensamiento platónico, a mientender, su interpretación del platonismo es en lo esencial certera, pues Platón intentó ofrecer con la teoría de las ideas una concepción de las causas del devenir, basada en las categorías de finalidad y unidad, que calificó como «segunda navegación» precisamente porque constituía una alternativa a la teoría de la naturaleza transmitida por los presocráticos. (shrink)

Tras constatar la existencia de un corpus de más de doscientos cómics publicados a lo largo de casi un siglo que incorporan representaciones gráficas de Alejandro Magno, en el presente trabajo se analizan aquellas obras que muestran al personaje desde una perspectiva histórico-biográfica y con una finalidad didáctica, publicadas por vez primera en los Estados Unidos de la década de 1920 bajo la forma de tiras de prensa y dos décadas más tarde en Europa en tanto que contenidos de las (...) revistas destinadas a un público infantil, así como su posterior evolución en ambos escenarios geográficos a lo largo del siglo XX. (shrink)

When I pretended during my early youth what it might be like to practice medicine, I did not dream of the satiny images and pearly white smiles from the Marcus Welby reruns I faithfully watched on television, nor did I fantasize about getting behind the wheel of the gleaming cherry red Mercedes convertible my uncle the psychiatrist drove to my family's frequent gatherings. Money and medicine, though somehow clearly linked, were to me incalculably unrelated. The power of doctors rested in (...) their ability to heal the human beings in whom they recognized themselves wherever they touched them. The legendary country doctor of bygone years who took care of anyone (rich or poor) in the neighborhood who fell ill, crossed with a daring and sweaty guerrilla resisting his corrupt government from the distant reaches of a Latin American Jungle: this chimera was the warrior-physician I secretly aspired to be. (shrink)

¿Cómo ha sido el humor popular en tiempos de crisis? Esa parece ser la invitación que nos hace el autor del texto al revisar los episodios más notables del teatro cómico y del humor revisteril chileno durante los años más duros de la Gran Depresión. El espacio físico, los artistas, incluso los títulos de las obras hacen referencia a una vida nocturna que ha desaparecido de Santiago. A través de la prensa, Maximiliano Salinas nos hace testigos de las disputas entre (...) los representantes de la cultura de elite y los defensores del humor criollo, representado en la figura del personaje Juan Verdejo. Como en un carnaval, comprendemos que la dureza y el sufrimiento de la vida se convierten, por medio de estos artesanos del gesto y la palabra ingeniosa, en una explosión de creación artística y combate de la depresión económica y también sicológica. (shrink)

Transición es el paso de un estado o situación a otro, y el término se aplica a todos los fenómenos y seres vivos que experimentan cambios. Según el diccionario es «cambio o mudanza de un modo de ser o estar a otro distinto». Obviamente, el término transición es aplicable a la familia que, aunque en un tiempo determinado se concebía en nuestro país como exenta de cambios, hoy se reconoce como sujeta a múltiples transformaciones. De ella me voy a ocupar (...) a continuación haciendo hincapié de la reversibilidad o irreversibilidad de sus transiciones. ¿Son o no definitivas? ¿Todas o solamente algunas? ¿Ninguna, quizás? Mi objetivo es, sobre todo, poner de manifiesto cómo redefinen las transiciones a una institución tan omnipresente, en el tiempo y en el espacio, como la familia.…. (shrink)