There has been longstanding interest in the consistency of decisions made by research ethics committees in the UK, but most of the evidence has come from single studies submitted to multiple committees. A systematic comparison was carried out of the decisions made on 18 purposively selected applications, each of which was reviewed independently by three different RECs in a single strategic health authority. Decisions on 11 applications were consistent, but disparities were found among RECs on decisions on seven applications. An (...) analysis of the agreement between decisions of RECs yielded an overall measure of agreement of κ = 0.286 , indicating a level of agreement that, although probably better than chance, may be described as “slight”. The small sample size limits the robustness of these findings. Further research on reasons for inconsistencies in decision making between RECs, and on the importance of such inconsistencies for a range of arguments, is needed. (shrink)

The article examines Husserl's work On the Phenomenology of the Consciousness of Internal Time. Firstly, it seeks to show the surplus of cosmic time with regard to the temporality of consciousness. Secondly, an attempt is made to establish whether the Husserlian description of the form of the flow of consciousness is circular, i.e., whether it does not presupposes the objective time that it purports to constitute. Thirdly, a critical analysis of the self-manifestation of the absolute flow of consciousness is advanced. (...) Finally, a reference is made to the aporetics that befalls any investigation that tries to reduce one form of time to the other or to apprehend them independently. (shrink)

Research Ethics Committees (RECs) are frequently a focus of complaints from researchers, but evidence about the operation and decisions of RECs tends to be anecdotal. We conducted a systematic study to identify and compare the ethical issues raised in 54 letters to researchers about the same 18 applications submitted to three RECs over one year. The most common type of ethical trouble identified in REC letters related to informed consent, followed by scientific design and conduct, care and protection of research (...) participants, confidentiality, recruitment and documentation. Community considerations were least frequently raised. There was evidence of variability in the ethical troubles identified and the remedies recommended. This analysis suggests that some principles may be more institutionalized than others, and offers some evidence of inconsistency between RECs. Inconsistency is often treated as evidence of incompetence and caprice, but a more sophisticated understanding of the role of RECs and their functioning is required. (shrink)

We analysed research ethics committee (REC) letters. We found that RECs frequently identify process errors in applications from researchers that are not deemed “favourable” at first review. Errors include procedural violations (identified in 74% of all applications), missing information (68%), slip-ups (44%) and discrepancies (25%). Important questions arise about why the level of error identified by RECs is so high, and about how errors of different types should be handled.

El artículo realiza una lectura fenomenológico-hermenéutica de la cuestión de la esperanza en el pensamiento de S. Kierkegaard. Primero funda en la noción de espíritu la peculiar legitimidad del fenómeno. Luego explicita en términos filosóficos la esperanza en el reino de Dios, como una correlación ontogénica que se realiza procesualmente. A continuación analiza el silencio, la obediencia y la alegría como indicios de la vivencia de la esperanza. Finalmente determina la temporalidad y la dimensión estética del fenómeno.

El artículo reconstruye las nociones de origen y estructura en el pensamiento de H. Rombach y analiza la significación ontológica y el riesgo antropológico del fenómeno del origen. Primeramente, el análisis indica por qué el origen significa el modo ontológico-trascendental primordial de génesis del ser y resulta irreductible a y presupuesto por las nociones de "fundamento", "causa eficiente" o "inicio". Luego elucida la significación estético-ontológica propia del modo de originar del origen. Finalmente explicita el intento de la voluntad humana de (...) querer convertir el origen en su producto como el riesgo principal que afrontan los procesos de génesis por origen. (shrink)

The article reconstructs the cosmic dimension of existence in Fink’s thought. It first analyses man’s openness to the world and then the basic phenomena of existence (eros, work, mastery, death, play). Following he explains human existence as the realisation of a responsive freedom, according to we do not exist from ourselves, but from a way of assuming the aforementioned fundamental phenomena on the basis of which we are born, reside and die in the world. In this sense, the explicitation concludes (...) that these phenomena constitute the cosmic insertion of our existence, since the development of existence from them reflects and symbolises the way in which the cosmos itself emerges and reigns in us. Finally, the article proposes a hermeneutic extension of Fink’s thought, determines the fundamental moods (Stimmungen) and attitudes proper to existence that fully assumes its cosmic character. In this sense, he concludes that a cosmic existence is characterised, first, by a responsible attitude towards the harmonious existence of all beings with whom it shares the world and with whom it realises the order that the world is. Secondly, by a serene attitude towards one’s own mortality, which is assumed as a necessary moment of the world’s becoming. Finally, as an grateful existence to the universe that has allowed it to be and has offered it the possibilities that it is. (shrink)

Accumulating evidence indicates that simulated natural settings can engage mechanisms that promote health. Simulations offer alternatives to actual natural settings for populations unable to travel outdoors safely; however, few studies have contrasted the effects of simulations of natural settings to their actual outdoor counterparts. We compared the impacts of simulated and actual natural settings on positive and negative affect (mood) levels using a pooled sample of participants enrolled in extant experimental studies. Relevant articles were identified from a review of research (...) published/in press by March 2020 and updated during the peer review of the current study. Of 16 articles identified, 6 met the inclusion criteria and administered a single cross-cutting, standardized instrument [the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)] before and after exposure. Random effects meta-analysis of pooled effects showed that positive affect increased in the actual settings but not in their simulated counterparts (Hedge's g = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.54, 1.20). We observed little difference in effects on negative affect change scores ( g = −0.28; 95% CI, −0.62, 0.06), with studies generally showing reductions in negative affect in both settings. Further research with additional populations, settings, antecedent conditions, and durations would provide a more robust understanding of differences in effects between these two ways to enhance mood by viewing nature. (shrink)

A través de este escrito se pretende dar a conocer algunos aportes de lafundamentación de la ciencia de la mecánica en el siglo XVIII adelantados porLeohnard Euler y ponerlos en relación con algunas de las respectivaspropuestas de Jean le Rond d’Alelmbert. Se resalta, en particular, que laspreocupaciones de estos dos pensadores no se limitan sólo a una intención dematematización de la ciencia de la mecánica. También existe en ellos la intenciónexplícita de clarificación de la mecánica a través de la reorganizaciónconceptual (...) de las nociones primeras y de la identificación de los principios enlos que debe fundamentarse esta ciencia, ambas intenciones soportadas enpresupuestos epistemológicos sobre la certeza y la validez de nuestroconocimiento. (shrink)

In E. Levinas’s phenomenology of time three stages belonging to three different works can be distinguished: Le temps et l’Autre (1947), Totalité et Infini (1961), and Autrément qu’être ou au-delà de l’essence (1974). This paper systematically reconstructs these three periods, displaying the progress..

Two separate regulatory regimes govern research with adults who lack capacity to consent in England and Wales: the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 (“the Regulations”). A service evaluation was conducted to investigate how research ethics committees (RECs) are interpreting the requirements. With the use of a coding scheme and qualitative software, a sample of REC decision letters where applicants indicated that their project involved adults who lacked mental capacity was analysed. (...) The analysis focuses on 45 letters about projects covered by the MCA and 12 letters about projects covered by the Regulations. The legal requirements for involving incapacitated adults in research were not consistently interpreted correctly. Letters often lacked explicitness and clarity. Neither consent nor assent from third parties is a legally valid concept for purposes of the MCA, yet they were suggested or endorsed in 10 post-MCA letters, and there was evidence of confusion about the consultee processes. The correct terms were also not consistently used in relation to clinical trials. Inappropriate use of terms such as “relative” had the potential to exclude people eligible to be consulted. Unless the correct terms and legal concepts are used in research projects, there is potential for confusion and for exclusion of people who are eligible to be consulted about involvement of adults who lack capacity. Improved clarity, explicitness and accuracy are needed when submitting and reviewing applications for ethical review of research in this area. (shrink)

Patient report of functioning is one component of the neurocognitive exam following traumatic brain injury, and standardized patient-reported outcomes measures are useful to track outcomes during rehabilitation. The Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life measurement system is a TBI-specific extension of the PROMIS and Neuro-QoL measurement systems that includes 20 item banks across physical, emotional, social, and cognitive domains. Previous research has evaluated the responsiveness of the TBI-QOL measures in community-dwelling individuals and found clinically important change over a 6-month assessment (...) interval in a sample of individuals who were on average 5 years post-injury. In the present study, we report on the responsiveness of the TBI-QOL Cognition–General Concerns and Executive Function item bank scores and the Cognitive Health Composite scores in a recently injured sample over a 1-year study period. Data from 128 participants with complicated mild, moderate, or severe TBI within the previous 6 months were evaluated. The majority of the sample was male, white, and non-Hispanic. The participants were 18–92 years of age and were first evaluated from 0 to 5 months post-injury. Eighty participants completed the 1-year follow-up assessment. Results show acceptable standard response mean values for all measures and minimal detectable change values ranging from 8.2 to 8.8 T-score points for Cognition–General Concerns and Executive Functioning measures. Anchor rating analysis revealed that changes in scores on the Executive Function item bank and the Cognitive Health Composite were meaningfully associated with participant-reported changes in the areas of attention, multitasking, and memory. Evaluation of change score differences by a variety of clinical indicators demonstrated a small but significant difference in the three TBI-QOL change scores by TBI injury severity grouping. These results support the responsiveness of the TBI-QOL cognition measures in newly injured individuals and provides information on the minimal important differences for the TBI-QOL cognition measures, which can be used for score interpretation by clinicians and researchers seeking patient-reported outcome measures of self-reported cognitive QOL after TBI. (shrink)

RESUMENEl artículo analiza la significación del pensamiento de J. Patočka para un acceso no confesional al fenómeno religioso. El análisis persigue dos objetivos. Primero determinar en qué medida los fundamentos de su filosofía de la historia implican una conmoción del orden fenoménico que abre el pensamiento hacia el Misterio que trasciende pero, a la vez, posibilita la historia humana. Segundo, explicitar el sacrificio como el medio por excelencia a través del cual el hombre en la era nihilista puede religarse con (...) el llamado de ese Misterio trascendente a realizar la infinita riqueza del ser y mantener viva la historia como historia con sentido.PALABRAS CLAVE HISTORIA, SACRIFICIO, SENTIDO, LO DIVINO.ABSTRACTThe paper analyzes the significance of J. Patočka’s thought for a non confessional access to the religious phenomenon. The analysis pursues two objectives. Firstly, to determine to what extent the foundations of his philosophy of history imply a commotion of the phenomenal order that opens the thought to the Mystery that transcends, but, at the same time, makes human history a reality. Secondly, to explicit sacrifice as the medium par excellence through which the man in the nihilistic era can connect (re-ligare) himself with the call from this transcendent Mystery to fulfil the infinite richness of being and maintaining history alive as well as meaningful.KEYWORDSHISTORy, SACRIFICE, MEANING, THE DIVIN. (shrink)

RESUMENEl artículo analiza la concepción de la esperanza de Welte y la contrapone al "principio esperanza" de Bloch. Primeramente el análisis distingue la esperanza ontológica de la religiosa y determina ambos conceptos. Luego expone la relación dinámica entre las dos formas de esperanza. Finalmente muestra cómo el paso de la esperanza ontológica a la religiosa supone una reversión temporal. La contraposición explicita, por un lado, el carácter parcial del análisis de Bloch frente al de Welte, pero, por otro lado, muestra (...) que ambos análisis no son contradictorios, sino complementarios.PALABRAS CLAVEESPERANZA-SENTIDO-RELIGIÓN-TEMPORALIDADABSTRACTThe article examines Welte´s notion of hope and sets it off against Bloch´s "hope principle". First, the difference between ontological hope and relgious hope is outlined, and the distinctive characters of both notions are described. Secondly, the dynamic relationship holding between both types of hope is developed. Finally, it is shown how the passage from ontological hope to religious hope entails a temporal reversion. The comparison attempts to show, on the one had, the one-sidedness of Bloch´s analysis, and, on the other, that both standpoints are not contradictory but rather complementary.KEYWORDSHOPE-MEANING-RELIGION-TEMPORALITY. (shrink)

RESUMEN Este artículo realiza un análisis hermenéutico-critico de la noción de instante como autoafirmación del yo en el joven Lévinas y como relación diacrónica con el otro en sus obras de madurez. Primero elucida la significación esencial del espacio en la constitución del instante. Luego explicita por qué la espacialidad del fenómeno implica la relación con la alteridad como condición de toda forma del instante, incluso del instante de autoafirmación del yo. Finalmente describe el paso del instante de identificación del (...) yo al instante resultante de la asignación ética del otro como consecuencia de una inversión de la espacialidad del fenómeno. ABSTRACT This article attempts a hermeneutical and critical analysis of the notion of instant as a self-assertion of the ego in the early Lévinas and as a diachronic relation to the Other in the later works. First, it elucidates the essential significance of space in the constitution of the instant. Secondly, it explains why the spatiality of phenomena implies the relationship with alterity as a condition of any form of instant, including the instant of self-assertion of the ego. Finally, it analyzes the transition from the instant of identification of the ego to the instant that results from the ethical assignation of the Other as a consequence of an inversion of the spatiality of phenomena. (shrink)

RESUMENEl artículo se ocupa de la cuestión de Dios y la muerte en el pensamiento de Patocka. Comienza analizando los dos primeros movimientos del mundo de la vida, para centrarse en el tercero: «el descubrimiento del sí». Luego procura mostrar cómo, a través de la divinización del tiempo al cual debemos sacrificar la propia vida, la filosofía de Patocka consuma la subordinación de la problemática ética al renovarse de la temporalidad como sentido del ser. En este contexto se analiza la (...) relación entre la muerte como sacrificio por un lado y el ser, lo Divino y la temporalidad por el otro. PALABRAS CLAVE PATOCKA-DIOS-MUERTE-TIEMPO.ABSTRACTThe article is about God's question and death in Patocka's thought. It starts analysing the first two movements in the world of life, to focus on the third one: «the discovery of oneself». Then, it sets out to show how, throught time divinity, to wich we have to sacifice our own life, Patocka's philosophy consummates the subordination of the ethic problem when renewing the temporality as sense of being. In this context it is analysed the relationship between death and sacrifice, on one side, and divinity and temporality, on the otherKEYWORDSPATOCKA-GOD-DEATH-TIME. (shrink)

Primeramente, el artículo explicite las tres convergencias fundamentales entre la concepción kantiana y la levinasiana de la religión. La primera convergencia se refiere al acceso fenomenológico a la religión común a Kant y a Levinas. La segunda al hecho de que para ambos la modalidad concreta de la religión es ética. La tercera alude a un mismo modo de comprender el Reino y el acercamiento a él como "sentido último" del fenómeno religioso. En segundo lugar, el estudio señala cómo las (...) tres convergencias son posibles porque ambos pensadores suponen un tiempo otro que se cruza con el tiempo fenoménico. (shrink)

El artículo distingue, primero, dos formas fundamentales del tiempo: isocronía y sincronía y establece la relación existente entre ellas. Luego analiza dos nociones de eternidad, a saber, atemporalidad y ultratemporalidad que resultan de negar el discurrir propio de la isocronía y la sincronía. Finalmente esboza un concepto positivo de eternidad como supratemporalidad. Describe el temporaciarse propia de esta supratemporalidad como diacronía y explicita en qué medida la esperanza testimonia esta eternidad positiva.

The article explains the extent in which, in Kierkegaard’s thought, the genesis of Eros has a significance that is at once aesthetic and religious. It then restates the meaning of the aesthetic and the religious, and shows how the intensity with which both dimensions are experienced blends them in matrimony. The article then goes on to redefine the concept of matrimony on the basis of a hermeneutics of the notion of resolution. Finally, it specifies hope as the ultimate meaning of (...) the conjunction of the aesthetic and the religious in Eros. (shrink)

In the remainder of this article, we will disarm an important motivation for epistemic contextualism and interest-relative invariantism. We will accomplish this by presenting a stringent test of whether there is a stakes effect on ordinary knowledge ascription. Having shown that, even on a stringent way of testing, stakes fail to impact ordinary knowledge ascription, we will conclude that we should take another look at classical invariantism. Here is how we will proceed. Section 1 lays out some limitations of previous (...) research on stakes. Section 2 presents our study and concludes that there is little evidence for a substantial stakes effect. Section 3 responds to objections. The conclusion clears the way for classical invariantism. (shrink)

Primero el artículo analiza críticamente la interpretación de la filosofía levinasiana como un palimpsesto que trascribe al lenguaje del logos la experiencia religiosa judía. Luego muestra cómo el ideal descriptivo y las nociones fenomenológicas de intencionalidad, sensibilidad y subjetividad constituyen el punto de partida y la inspiración filosófica originaria de Levinas. Finalmente precisa en qué sentido aquellos rasgos del pensamiento levinasiano que trascienden la fenomenología son conciliables con el presupuesto fundamental de la fenomenología misma.

This article examines whether people share the Gettier intuition (viz. that someone who has a true justified belief that p may nonetheless fail to know that p) in 24 sites, located in 23 countries (counting Hong Kong as a distinct country) and across 17 languages. We also consider the possible influence of gender and personality on this intuition with a very large sample size. Finally, we examine whether the Gettier intuition varies across people as a function of their disposition to (...) engage in “reflective” thinking. (shrink)

This article examines whether people share the Gettier intuition (viz. that someone who has a true justified belief that p may nonetheless fail to know that p) in 24 sites, located in 23 countries (counting Hong-Kong as a distinct country) and across 17 languages. We also consider the possible influence of gender and personality on this intuition with a very large sample size. Finally, we examine whether the Gettier intuition varies across people as a function of their disposition to engage (...) in “reflective” thinking. (shrink)

Philosophers have long debated whether, if determinism is true, we should hold people morally responsible for their actions since in a deterministic universe, people are arguably not the ultimate source of their actions nor could they have done otherwise if initial conditions and the laws of nature are held fixed. To reveal how non-philosophers ordinarily reason about the conditions for free will, we conducted a cross-cultural and cross-linguistic survey (N = 5,268) spanning twenty countries and sixteen languages. Overall, participants tended (...) to ascribe moral responsibility whether the perpetrator lacked sourcehood or alternate possibilities. However, for American, European, and Middle Eastern participants, being the ultimate source of one’s actions promoted perceptions of free will and control as well as ascriptions of blame and punishment. By contrast, being the source of one’s actions was not particularly salient to Asian participants. Finally, across cultures, participants exhibiting greater cognitive reflection were more likely to view free will as incompatible with causal determinism. We discuss these findings in light of documented cultural differences in the tendency toward dispositional versus situational attributions. (shrink)

Is behavioral integration (i.e., which occurs when a subjects assertion that p matches her non-verbal behavior) a necessary feature of belief in folk psychology? Our data from nearly 6,000 people across twenty-six samples, spanning twenty-two countries suggests that it is not. Given the surprising cross-cultural robustness of our findings, we suggest that the types of evidence for the ascription of a belief are, at least in some circumstances, lexicographically ordered: assertions are first taken into account, and when an agent sincerely (...) asserts that p, non-linguistic behavioral evidence is disregarded. In light of this, we take ourselves to have discovered a universal principle governing the ascription of beliefs in folk psychology. (shrink)

Since at least Hume and Kant, philosophers working on the nature of aesthetic judgment have generally agreed that common sense does not treat aesthetic judgments in the same way as typical expressions of subjective preferences—rather, it endows them with intersubjective validity, the property of being right or wrong regardless of disagreement. Moreover, this apparent intersubjective validity has been taken to constitute one of the main explananda for philosophical accounts of aesthetic judgment. But is it really the case that most people (...) spontaneously treat aesthetic judgments as having intersubjective validity? In this paper, we report the results of a cross‐cultural study with over 2,000 respondents spanning 19 countries. Despite significant geographical variations, these results suggest that most people do not treat their own aesthetic judgments as having intersubjective validity. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for theories of aesthetic judgment and the purpose of aesthetics in general. (shrink)

Los objetivos de la investigación fueron describir el desempeño de los estudiantes de educación secundaria en una evaluación directa y una evaluación indirecta de la escritura, y determinar el grado de relación entre el desempeño en ambas evaluaciones. La metodología fue cuantitativa e incluyó la participación de una muestra de estudiantes de curso final de educación secundaria en Chile. Los participantes realizaron una evaluación directa de la escritura, específicamente un ensayo argumentativo que fue calificado en 8 dimensiones; y una evaluación (...) indirecta, que correspondió a ejercicios de uso de conectores y ordenación de enunciados. En el estudio se comprobó que los estudiantes exhiben un desempeño medio-bajo en ambas evaluaciones. En la evaluación directa las dimensiones Ortografía, Coherencia, Cohesión y Uso de argumentos fueron las más descendidas. Por último, se observó que el desempeño en la evaluación directa y la evaluación indirecta de la escritura son independientes entre sí, es decir, no están correlacionados. (shrink)

Does the Ship of Theseus present a genuine puzzle about persistence due to conflicting intuitions based on “continuity of form” and “continuity of matter” pulling in opposite directions? Philosophers are divided. Some claim that it presents a genuine puzzle but disagree over whether there is a solution. Others claim that there is no puzzle at all since the case has an obvious solution. To assess these proposals, we conducted a cross-cultural study involving nearly 3,000 people across twenty-two countries, speaking eighteen (...) different languages. Our results speak against the proposal that there is no puzzle at all and against the proposal that there is a puzzle but one that has no solution. Our results suggest that there are two criteria—“continuity of form” and “continuity of matter”— that constitute our concept of persistence and these two criteria receive different weightings in settling matters concerning persistence. (shrink)

Theories of consciousness have a long and controversial history. One well-known proposal — integrated information theory — has recently been labeled as ‘pseudoscience’, which has caused a heated open debate. Here we discuss the case and argue that the theory is indeed unscientific because its core claims are untestable even in principle.

Yo creo en Dios en la Iglesia. En esta sencilla expresión puede resumirse lo que intentaremos explicar en estas páginas. Se mostrará la relación recíproca que existe entre el sujeto que realiza el acto de fe al decir yo creo, el contenido de esa fe que es expresada en el Credo (en Dios Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo) y el lugar concreto donde es realizado el acto de fe y es entregado su contenido (y en la Iglesia).