The concept of scaffolding has wide resonance in several scientific fields. Here we attempt to adopt it for the study of development. In this perspective, the embryo is conceived as an integral whole, comprised of several hierarchical modules as in a recurrent circularity of emerging patterns. Within the developmental hierarchy, each module yields an inter-level relationship that makes it possible for the scaffolding to mediate the production of selectable variations. A wide range of genetic, cellular and morphological mechanisms allows the (...) scaffolding to integrate these modular variations into a functionally coordinate unit. A genetic scaffolding accounts for the inherited invariance of pattern formation during the embryo’s growth. At higher level, cells behave as agents endowed with the capacity to interpret any scaffolding variation as signs. The full hierarchy of a multi-level scaffolding is eventually attained when the embryo acquires the capacity to impose a number of developmental constraints on its constituting parts in a top-down direction. The acquisition of this capacity allows a semiotic threshold to emerge between the living cellular world and the underlying non-living molecular world. As this boundary is gradually defined during development, cells enter into new functional relationships, while, at the same time, are relieved from their physical determinism. The resulting constraints can thus become the driving forces that upgrade embryonic scaffolding from the simple molecular signalling to the complexity of sign recognition proper of a cellular community. In this semiotic perspective, the apparent goal directness of any developmental strategy should no longer be accounted for by a predetermined genetic program, but by the gradual definition of the relationships selected amongst the ones historically explored. (shrink)

The majority of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) self-assemble in the form dimeric/oligomeric complexes along the plasma membrane. Due to the molecular interactions they participate, GPCRs can potentially provide the framework for discriminating a wide variety of intercellular signals, as based on some kind of combinatorial receptor codes. GPCRs can in fact transduce signals from the external milieu by modifying the activity of such intracellular proteins as adenylyl cyclases, phospholipases and ion channels via interactions with specific G-proteins. However, in spite of (...) the number of cell functions they can actually control, both GPCRs and their associated signal transduction pathways are extremely well conserved, for only a few alleles with null or minor functional alterations have so far been found. This would seem to suggest that, beside a mechanism for DNA repairing, there must be another level of quality control that may help maintaining GPCRs rather stable throughout evolution. We propose here receptor oligomerization to be a basic molecular mechanism controlling GPCRs redundancy in many different cell types, and the plasma membrane as the first hierarchical cell structure at which selective categorical sensing may occur. Categorical sensing can be seen as the cellular capacity for identifying and ordering complex patterns of mixed signals out of a contextual matrix, i.e., the recognition of meaningful patterns out of ubiquitous signals. In this context, redundancy and degeneracy may appear as the required feature to integrate the cell system into functional units of progressively higher hierarchical levels. (shrink)

This volume addresses the intriguing issue of indirect reports from an interdisciplinary perspective. The contributors include philosophers, theoretical linguists, socio-pragmaticians, and cognitive scientists. The book is divided into four sections following the provenance of the authors. Combining the voices from leading and emerging authors in the field, it offers a detailed picture of indirect reports in the world’s languages and their significance for theoretical linguistics. Building on the previous book on indirect reports in this series, this volume adds an empirical (...) and cross-linguistic approach that covers an impressive range of languages, such as Cantonese, Japanese, Hebrew, Persian, Dutch, Spanish, Catalan, Armenian, Italian, English, Hungarian, German, Rumanian, and Basque. (shrink)

Reseña de Wright, E. O. (2020). Cómo ser anticapitalista en el siglo XXI. Traducción Cristina Piña Aldao, Akal Pensamiento Crítico (150 páginas).

Cirquent calculus is a novel proof theory permitting component-sharing between logical expressions. Using it, the predecessor article ‘Elementary-base cirquent calculus I: Parallel and choice connectives’ built the sound and complete axiomatization $\textbf{CL16}$ of a propositional fragment of computability logic. The atoms of the language of $\textbf{CL16}$ represent elementary, i.e. moveless, games and the logical vocabulary consists of negation, parallel connectives and choice connectives. The present paper constructs the first-order version $\textbf{CL17}$ of $\textbf{CL16}$, also enjoying soundness and completeness. The language of (...) $\textbf{CL17}$ augments that of $\textbf{CL16}$ by including choice quantifiers. Unlike classical predicate calculus, $\textbf{CL17}$ turns out to be decidable. (shrink)

I present a semantics for the language of first-order additive-multiplicative linear logic, i.e. the language of classical first-order logic with two sorts of disjunction and conjunction. The semantics allows us to capture intuitions often associated with linear logic or constructivism such as sentences = games, SENTENCES = resources or sentences = problems, where “truth” means existence of an effective winning strategy.The paper introduces a decidable first-order logic ET in the above language and gives a proof of its soundness and completeness (...) with respect to this semantics. Allowing noneffective strategies in the latter is shown to lead to classical logic.The semantics presented here is very similar to Blass's game semantics. Although there is no straightforward reduction between the two corresponding notions of validity, my completeness proof can likely be adapted to the logic induced by Blass's semantics to show its decidability, which was the main problem left open in Blass's paper.The reader needs to be familiar with classical logic and arithmetic. (shrink)

A description of the founding of the Journal of Phenomenological Psychology and some of its vicissitudes during its first 25 years are described. Some of the difficulties the journal experienced are correlated with the minority status of phenomenological psychology in the world of psychology at large. Several factors are hypothesized to be the basis of Phenomenology's little impact on mainstream psychology: intrinsic difficulties in comprehending phenomenological philosophy, the fact that phenomenological psychology has not yet sufficiently diflerentiated itself from phenomenological philosophy; (...) and mainstream psychology's clear non-openness to approaches that seem different to its established values. (shrink)

We construct a high c.e. degree which is not the join of two minimal degrees and so refute Posner's conjecture that every high c.e. degree is the join of two minimal degrees. Additionally, the proof shows that there is a high c.e. degree a such that for any splitting of a into degrees b and c one of these degrees bounds a 1-generic degree.

We show that there exist downwards properly $\Sigma _{2}^{0}$ (in fact noncuppable) e-degrees that are not high. We also show that every high e-degree bounds a noncuppable e-degree.

L’autore presenta lo sviluppo del proprio metodo a partire dal background psicologico sperimentale da cui proviene e dal quale ha preso le distanze, a partire dal desiderio di studiare l’essere umano con un approccio globale, un metodo scientifico non frammentario. L’incontro con la filosofia di Edmund Husserl ha connotato questo suo percorso, in essa egli ha scoperto un approccio che rendesse possibile la ricerca sui fenomeni umani proprio con i criteri che andava inseguendo. Il metodo di ricerca che ha quindi (...) elaborato si basa sul lavoro di Husserl e di Merleau-Ponty. L’articolo descrive brevemente questo metodo.The author explains that his background was in experimental psychology but that he wanted to study the whole person and not fragmented psychological processes. He also desired a non-reductionistic method for studying humans. Fortunately he came across the work of Edmund Husserl and discovered in the latter’s thought a way of researching humans that met the criteria he was seeking. Eventually he developed a phenomenological method for researching humans in a psychological way based upon the work of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty. This article briefly describes the method. (shrink)

We construct a ${\Sigma^0_2}$ e-degree which is both high and noncuppable. Thus demonstrating the existence of a high e-degree whose predecessors are all properly ${\Sigma^0_2}$.

El pensamiento de Leopoldo Zea comienza a tomar cuerpo a partir de la década de 1940 y forma parte de un legado representativo para la filosofía latinoamericana y, más específicamente, para la Historia de las Ideas Latinoamericanas. Las reflexiones que volcó en sus libros, y que expuso en foros de discusión que recorrieron el mundo, estuvieron siempre empeñadas en desentrañar el sentido de nuestra historia, con el fin de esclarecer y organizar los saberes y las prácticas de nuestra vida espiritual. (...) Ello, sin perder de vista la necesidad de buscar todos aquellos modos que permitan articular nuestra cultura y nuestra historia con la cultura y la historia universales. Además, su vasta obra contiene importantes aportes que nutren el legado de una tradición siempre orientada a reforzar la afirmación de los ideales de libertad, la autonomía de los pueblos, la integración y, fundamentalmente, la prospectiva de "imaginar sociedades del futuro igualmente deseables para unos y para otros", tal como lo enuncia Don Leopoldo.L. Zea's thinking begun to take shape during the 1940s; they are part of a representative legacy to Latin American philosophy and, more specifically, to the history of Latin American ideas. The reflections in his books, also presented at discussion forums all over the world, always tried to disclose the meaning of our history in order to enlighten and to organize the knowledge and the practices of our spiritual life, this being so without neglecting our concern about the way our history and culture articulate with the universal history and culture. Moreover, his work nourishes a tradition always aimed at strengthening the ideals of freedom, people's autonomy, and integration, and especially the capacity to "imagine future societies just as desirable for all", as don Leopoldo would say. (shrink)

This book builds on the idea that pragmatics and philosophy are strictly interconnected and that advances in one area will generate consequential advantages in the other area. The first part of the book, entitled ‘Theoretical Approaches to Philosophy of Language’, contains contributions by philosophers of language on connectives, intensional contexts, demonstratives, subsententials, and implicit indirect reports. The second part, ‘Pragmatics in Discourse’, presents contributions that are more empirically based or of a more applicative nature and that deal with the pragmatics (...) of discourse, argumentation, pragmatics and law, and context. The book presents perspectives which, generally, make most of the Gricean idea of the centrality of a speaker’s intention in attribution of meaning to utterances, whether one is interested in the level of sentence-like units or larger chunks of discourse. (shrink)

Este artigo analisa a origem e os objetivos políticos da celebração do Dia Internacional da Mulher a partir do estudo das socialistas norte-americanas e alemãs enquadradas na Internacional Socialista de Mulheres. O trabalho enfoca as discussões sobre a "questão feminina" e a luta pelo sufrágio universal feminino nos partidos socialistas da Alemanha e dos Estados Unidos; em particular na relação política que os socialistas tiveram que manter com os movimentos feministas burgueses. Procuraremos demonstrar que o Dia Internacional da Mulher foi (...) uma iniciativa da Internacional Socialista da Mulher no âmbito da luta pelo sufrágio universal feminino e pela obtenção de melhores condições de trabalho e de vida para as mulheres trabalhadoras. A celebração desta data articulava-se como instância de agitação e propaganda de um trabalho político de longa data que as mulheres socialistas desenvolviam entre as trabalhadoras desde finais do século XIX no quadro da Segunda Internacional. (shrink)

In this introductory article to the special issue on Multi-level semiosis we attempt to stage the background for qualifying the notion of “multi-levelness” when considering communication processes and semiosis in all life forms, i.e. from the cellular to the organismic level. While structures are organized hierarchically, communication processes require a kind of processual organization that may be better described as being heterarchical. Theoretically, the challenge arises in the temporal domain, that is, in the developmental and evolutionary dimension of dynamic semiotic (...) processes. We discuss the importance of this fundamental difference in order to explain how levels, domains and orders of magnitude, on the one hand, and synchronic and diachronic processes, on the other, contribute to the overall organization of every living being. To account for such multi-level organization, semiotic freedom is assumed to be a scalar property that endows living systems at different levels and domains with the capacity to ponder selectively the overall structural coherence and functional compatibility of their heterarchical processing, which is increasingly less conditioned by the underlying molecular determinism. (shrink)

According to the thesis of powerism, our world is pervaded by causal powers which are metaphysically basic. The aim of this paper is to defend the existence of the self, defined as a substantial entity, and its mental powers. This claim, which may seem a bold one, should not be deemed as inconsistent with scientific evidence. In fact, this approach does not ignore empirical knowledge, but is not bound only to it in order to understand entities, properties, and the relationship (...) between them. Aristotelian powerism may show that the self, as the subject of one’s mental acts, is a substance that has an essential nature. Firstly, we shall analyze the immediate evidence we have in support of the existence of the self as a substantial entity. We will show that the self is a substance because it possesses an essential character, i.e. an individual essence. We will take into account the Aristotelian perspective of substance, trying to show how the presence of a necessary property that makes every subject identical to itself and the phenomenal features of one’s private experience point to the existence of a substantial entity that corresponds to the self. Secondly, we will try to justify the adoption of a metaphysical theory of causation based on powers, analyzing it in comparison with the main competing theories, namely hypotheticalism and nomism. Then, we shall proceed to show the causal properties of the substance in question, namely the mental powers. In fact, thirdly, we will embrace the thesis of powerism by defending the existence of a set of mental powers that should be attributed to the self. We will describe the main features of mental powers and we will show that they are conceivable as the pure intentional acts we perform by directing an intentional state towards an intentional object. In this way we show how a classic problem of philosophy of mind, relevant to science as well, can be addressed in an original way by a metaphysical approach involving powers. (shrink)

A theory can be an explanation of a piece of the world. A theory of law is intended to be an explanation of that phenomenon of social communication which we call Law. But, Raffaele De Giorgi, perhaps the person responsible for the introduction of luhmannian theory in Argentina, (jointly with Torres Nafarrate in Mexico in translating Luhmann’s work to Spanish), asked: What is a theory of society? What is the “Law of society”? And answered: Can we discuss this?, hands (...) managed by hands, nothing different from a prostheses. According to De Giorgi we are sure that the themes that we use as objects or objects that we use as themes, are our construction, we think that we turn around ourselves, while we continue rotating around the vacuum. It is a paradox, or another paradox: ¿Is it possible to get out or get rid of these paradoxes? Logic does not help us. Logic, according to Luhmann, can only see to the fact that some expressions, with unavailable truths, are in contradiction with other expressions, the problem cannot be resolved us- ing logical operations. With the help of Gegenparadoxierungen (against-par- adox), systemic therapy is the alternative where the problem can be toler- ated. And, according to Luhmann, the placement of the paradox should be conducted in a more or less skilled, successful, or useful way to break the logjam.A creative use of paradoxes, especially legal ones, allows us to observe how Luhmann’s theory has impacted existing theories in ArgentinaThemes such as the paradoxality of law, or its being without foundation (and without beginning, the vacuity of their principles and the opacity of its distinctions and operations), filtered theories (like Carlos Cárcova or Ernesto Grün) and jurisprudential practices have started shifting things to what Bielefeld Professor has called “old European”Resumen:Una teoría puede ser una explicación de un sector del mundo. Una teoría del derecho pretende ser una explicación de ese fenómeno de comunicación social que llamamos derecho. Pero, Raffaele De Giorgi, tal vez uno de los máximos responsables de la introducción de la teoría de la luhmanniana en la Argentina (junto a Javier Torres Nafarrate de México, a través de su traducción de las obras de Luhmann al español), pregunta:¿Qué es una teoría de la sociedad? ¿Qué es el “Derecho de la sociedad”? y responde: es que podemos discutir esto?, manos que son manejadas por manos, nada diferente de una prótesis. Y agrega: estamos seguros de que los temas que usamos como objetos o los objetos que utilizamos como temas, son nuestra construcción, pensamos que nos volvemos sobre nosotros mismos, mientras continuamos girando alrededor del vacío.Es una paradoja, u otra paradoja. ¿Es posible salir, deshacerse de estas paradojas? La lógica no nos ayuda. La lógica dice Luhmann, sólo puede ver el hecho de que algunas expresiones, cuya verdad no está disponible, entran en contradicción con otras expresiones, para las cuales vale decir la misma cosa. Usando operaciones lógicas, el problema no puede ser resuelto. Como terapia sistémica la única que podemos ver, con el auxilio de la Gegenparadoxierungen (“contra-paradoja”), es un lugar menos doloroso en el que puede tolerarse el problema. Y recordó que, en cierto sentido, la colocación de la paradoja se realizará con más o menos éxito, esto es: de manera útil para desbloquear la situación.Y es el uso creativo de paradojas, especialmente uno que se hizo por el Derecho, el que nos permite observar cómo su teoría (la de Luhmann) se ha comenzado a reciclar en las teorías existentes en Argentina. Temas como el problema de la paradojalidad del Derecho, de su ser sin fundamentos y sin comienzo, de la vacuidad de sus principios y la opacidad de sus operaciones y distinciones, se filtran teorías (como las de Carlos Cárcova o Ernesto Grün) y prácticas de la jurisprudencia y puede verse que ha comenzado a remover ese tipo de pensamiento que el profesor de Bielefeld había llamado “vétero europeo”. (shrink)

The title of this collection of studies alludes to the revolt against formalism in modern art, as opposed to the various kinds of formalized analysis to which art is today subjected, both by the critic and by the aesthetician. Although the names of the contributors—Alquié, Zolla, Brun, Dufrenne, Giorgi, Olivetti—are all remembered in connection with outstanding materials in this field, the contributions to this volume are unequal in value. Those of Dufrenne and Giorgi make the book required reading (...) for anyone attempting to go beyond the more heavy-handed formalism of much of the Aristotelian, Kantian and even pragmatist literature on aesthetics. Dufrenne's chapter deals with the a priori of the imagination, which for him is realistic, thanks to the affinity between the expressive power of the cosmic and the semantic core of the word. This affinity crystallizes in what he calls ontological qualities. Four of these latter qualities are studied, viz., elementariness or naturality, potency, depth and purity. Giorgi defends the thesis of the linguistic character of artistic expression. She is well aware of the ambiguity factor in symbols, but this is overcome by the relationality of the latter, a relationality that allows them to act as interpretants of objects in a representative role. In the study of the process of recognition of semantic value in artistic structures, Giorgi shows a resourceful command of suggestions from information theory, linguistics, visual arts and mythical thought. The flexibility acquired through these means of analysis justifies perhaps a critical attitude towards the more formalistic conceptions of metaphor and of artistic categories.—A. M. (shrink)

fasc. 1. Principes généraux; équations d'Einstein. Dynamique et optique. Repérages non einsteiniens. Avec une "Note sur le système Giorgi."--fasc. 2. Le champ statique à symétrie sphérique. Avec la collaboration de J. Moulis.

Este trabalho visa apresentar a trajetória de uma pesquisa qualitativa em Psicologia, que defini a Fenomenologia e a Historiografia como metodologias. Após delimitar os objetivos da pesquisa em questão, fez-se necessário elaborar um percurso metodológico para alcançá-los. Dessa forma, inicia-se o relato de uma longa jornada que envolve desde a delimitação do universo da pesquisa até os passos da pesquisadora em campo. Este artigo tem como propósito partilhar informações, discutir e minimizar as dificuldades enfrentadas por pesquisadores em trabalho de campo (...) no uso de metodologias de base qualitativa, especificamente a historiografia e a Fenomenologia no método proposto por Amadeo Giorgi e Daniel Sousa. Assim, organiza-se o presente trabalho da seguinte forma: introdução, que recupera a história da pesquisa realizada; percurso metodológico: primeiras pistas; escolha dos participantes, fundamentos metodológicos, passo a passo da pesquisa em campo e considerações finais. (shrink)

Ethical decision-making is inherent in nursing practice. Although a definite portion of the nursing literature is devoted to ethics and ethical decision-making, the profession is just beginning to ground its ethics research in the actual experience of nurses. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experience of staff nurses as they engage in ethical decision-making. Interview data were collected from 19 staff nurses in a large, midwestern American metropolitan hospital. Interviews were subse quently transcribed and (...) class='Hi'>Giorgi's method of data analysis applied. The emerging descrip tion revealed four common aspects of ethical decision-making among staff nurses: context, trigger, ethical decision-making process (i.e. deliberation and integration), and outcomes. This description provides a foundation for future research regarding a descrip tive theory of ethical decision-making in nursing. (shrink)

This review paper discusses the perspective of complex biological systems as applied to inheritance and ontogeny, focusing on the continuity of genetic, epigenetic and microbiotic inheritance. The informational processuality within this continuity can be used as to exemplify the insufficiency of hierarchical concepts in grasping the complex and integrated nature of biological processes. The argument follows Bruni and Giorgi in emphasizing that while structures and substrates are organized hierarchically, communicational processes are organized heterarchically. The essay also argues the insufficiency (...) of a single, basic, i.e. genetic level of description, which is the prevalent idea of twentieth century biology, to explain all phenotypic variation. I argue that inheritance and development cannot be fully explained by some sub- or super-ordination and that such descriptions are merely heuristic tools that do not reflect the nature of such processes. (shrink)

In this text, the history of phenomenological research on learning is synthesized and brought forward into the areas of existential learning, the development of enthusiasm about learning (from childhood through adulthood), and paradigmatic creative experience. Original research findings are derived using the Giorgi method of descriptive phenomenological analysis in psychology. The results, structural and eidetic in nature, are then integrated from a holistic developmental viewpoint: that of Existential-Humanistic Self-Development Theory (EHSDT). An evolving developmental partnership between learning and creativity emerges (...) as the proper conceptual frame for considering optimal growth and the relative maturity of situated becoming oneself (i.e., the process of self-cultivation). The resulting perspective is supported by cutting edge trends in neuroscience and related to pedagogy and education. (shrink)

The sudden emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought global disruption to every aspect of society including healthcare, supply chain, the economy, and social interaction. Among the many emergent considerations were the safety and public health of the public, patients, essential workers, and healthcare professionals. In certain locations, clinical research was halted—or terminated—in deference to the immediate needs of patient care, and clinical trials focusing on the treatment and prevention of coronavirus infection were prioritized over studies focusing on other diseases. Difficult (...) decisions were made rapidly; flexibility and reconsideration were necessary not only because the intensity and severity of infection varied over time and by locale but also because knowledge of the disease and understanding of its treatment grew. Here we discuss the ethical challenges in decision-making and competing ethical tensions during the pandemic in an effort to advance future preparedness. (shrink)