This year is the 300th anniversary of the birth of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 - 1772). Although he worked in the eighteenth century, his investigations into the nature of physical, physiological and spiritual processes are still relevant today, although they are not as widely known as they deserve. In this article, I will briefly describe the stages in Swedenborg's life, and outline his mature teachings with particular relevance to what is relevant to the concerns of contemporary science, and to the (...) concerns of those wishing to extend that science. (shrink)

La misión educativa del maestro, del profesor de primeras letras, fue uno de los temas pedagógicos al que Unamuno, el insigne rector de la Universidad de Salamanca, más páginas de análisis y reflexión dedicó a lo largo de su producción ensayística. El presente artículo, centrado en dicho tema, procura desvelar la concepción unamuniana del maestro, en cuanto a su misión de promover la formación de una concepción unitaria del saber en sus alumnos. Para nuestro autor, la fragmentación del saber era (...) un grave error educativo al que había que combatir con vehemencia. En contra de dicha fragmentación, propuso, inspirado en su formación romántica, una visión holista e integrada de los saberes impartidos en clase a partir de la cosmovisión étnica del pueblo español (intrahistoria). No pudiendo haber educaciones ideológicamente neutrales, sólo el trasfondo espiritual de la comunidad patria a la que el alumno pertenece podría unificar el saber escolar que tendría siempre que ser consustancial al espíritu del propio pueblo (Volksgeist) en cuanto expresión individualizada del alma de la propia humanidad (Allgeist). Y es aquí donde se hace sentir la educación de talante nacionalista propuesta por Unamuno, siendo cierto que lo nacional en el autor es siempre concebido como puerta para lo universal. (shrink)

En este estudio, nos proponemos determinar el ideal ético-normativo de la παιδεια unamuniana. Para el rector salmantino, la libertad debería constituir el principio y el fin de todos los esfuerzos educativos, ya sea de los padres, de la Iglesia o del propio Estado. Para concretar dicho ideal creyó necesario, en un primer momento, defender la libertad de enseñanza, que, en su pensamiento, adquiere dos posturas bien distintas si se considera el antes y el después de la Constitución española del 1931, (...) concernientes a su defensa del Estado docente y del Estado organizador de la enseñanza. Una vez asegurado este requisito, de carácter político, creyó que una enseñanza para la libertad, de matriz ético-normativa, debería estructurarse a partir de la afirmación absoluta del libre examen, la conciencia de la ley y la cultura, ya que sólo a través de una libertad así concebida podría asegurarse la autodeterminación profesional, intelectual y espiritual de las jóvenes generaciones. (shrink)

The Embodied Mind provides a unique, sophisticated treatment of the spontaneous and reflective dimension of human experience.

Este estudio pretende determinar los tres principios elementales de la ontología filosófica de M. de unamuno, que se podrían cristalizar en los axiomas que presentamos a continuación: (1) “todo el ser se esfuerza indefinidamente por perseverar en ser”; (2) “ser es obrar, y sólo existe lo que obra en cuanto obra”; y (3) “ser es querer ser”. En nuestros análisis enfatizaremos de forma especial los estudios realizados por Mariano Álvarez Gómez, cuya línea de interpretación hemos adoptado en nuestra aproximación al (...) pensamiento del autor. (shrink)

Unamuno fue un pensador comprometido con la realidad educativa de su España de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX. De sus preocupaciones pedagógicas, se destacan sus reflexiones a propósito de la gramática, del latín y del griego. El presente estudio procurará desvelar el leitmotiv de la crítica unamuniana a la forma como dichas asignaturas eran impartidas en su época histórica con vistas a aclarar el alcance teórico de sus propuestas educativas.

En este artículo, intentamos recuperar los aspectos de la reflexión unamuniana acerca del tema educativo que fueron olvidados por el grueso de sus comentaristas. Unamuno, en cuanto pensador, no quiso proponer una teoría educativa. Sin embargo, al reflexionar autobiográficamente sobre los demás aspectos de su vida, en cuanto persona, estudiante, profesor, catedrático y rector, se detuvo sobre una infinidad de temas pedagógicos que, leídos en su conjunto, nos ponen en contacto con un pensamiento bastante desarrollado en sus aspectos teórico-conceptuales. Aquí, (...) daremos voz a algunos aspectos de su pensamiento antropagógico, que el autor cristalizó en sus escritos autobiográficos; nos referimos en concreto a las bibliotecas, a las academias de arte, a las asociaciones infantiles y a los movimientos religiosos en cuanto instancias educativas. (shrink)

En este estudio, que intenta analizar la relación que Unamuno mantuvo con las pedagogías vigentes en España a finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX, procuraremos determinar los aspectos que han alejado al insigne rector salmantino de los métodos pedagógicos de los jesuitas (emulación), de la escolástica (retórica) y de las Escuelas del Avemaría (juego), que, como es bien sabido, han estructurado la enseñanza en España durante el susodicho período. Pero, más allá de su enfoque histórico, este estudio permitirá (...) también la comprensión filosófica de lo que es la educación, y la tarea de educar, que, según su peculiar visión pedagógica, debe estructurarse bajo un horizonte espiritual, donde profesor y alumno se han de concebir como padre e hijo en espíritu. Unamuno, al definir de este modo los agentes del acto educativo, terminó por determinar la formación ético normativa de la persona como telos pedagógico por excelencia de la escuela. No nos extraña, pues, que don Miguel se haya alejado del ideal educativo alemán (Fachmann), el del doctor especialista, a favor del ideal educativo inglés (Gentleman), que ha aceptado sin reservas como eje filosófico de su pensamiento educativo. (shrink)

Journal of Philosophy of Education, EarlyView.

Codes of conduct are a conspicuous feature of modern business organization, but doubts have been raised regarding their efficacy in ensuring high standards of behavior. Although some of the issues involved have been discussed at some length in the business ethics literature, the amount of systematic empirical evidence on the impact of codes is very limited. This paper seeks to make a contribution to that body of knowledge by studying the policies and procedures of a sample of banks which have (...) signed a statement on banking and the environment promulgated by the United Nations Development Programme. Although some differences are found when compared with a sample of banks which did not sign the Statement, they are not extensive. The implications of the findings, for codes of conduct and for future empirical studies, are then discussed. (shrink)

Los principios ontológicos de la unidad y continuidad del ser constituyen los dos rasgos fundamentales de la categoría de la identidad dentro del pensamiento filosófico del autor. La importancia de los mismos se manifiesta, desde el primer momento, en el hecho de que su antropología filosófica esté polarizada a partir de las categorías de la identidad, alteridad y diferencia ontológicas. Dado que la complejidad del pensamiento unamuniano no nos permite, en un único estudio, el análisis conjunto de las tres categorías, (...) optamos por centrarnos en la categoría de la identidad y en sus principios de unidad y continuidad del ser que constituyen la dimensión más positiva de su proyecto antropológico. (shrink)

Para Unamuno, que concibe al catedrático como un “fraguador de doctrinas”, la asignatura universitaria, ubicada en las antípodas de su concepción en la enseñanza secundaria, debería ser una expresión de una “ciencia viva” o in fieri, y no un repositorio de conocimientos. Con dicha toma de posición, el rector salmantino terminó por oponerse a la ciencia oficial y al dogma científico a favor de una enseñanza de procedimientos. El presente trabajo procura recuperar dicha concepción de asignatura, intentando desvelarla en sus (...) varias dimensiones con vistas a aportar al espacio de la reflexión pedagógica contemporánea las sui generis ideas educativas unamunianas que, por su densidad y sentido, permiten enfocar la asignatura académica no como un espacio de mera instrucción, sino como un momento de investigación de “hipótesis y utopías”. Utilizaremos como metodología de investigación la lectura, el análisis y el comentario del texto unamuniano, cuya contextualización filosófica, educativa e histórica se hace a partir de la oposición que el autor mantiene, dentro de su obra, hacia la pedagogía escolástica, presente en la universidad de su época en la figura del profesor/lector. La gran propuesta unamuniana es, pues, la de que docente y estudiante pierdan sus características clásicas, que les definen como un “templo del saber” y un “botijo vacío”, respectivamente, a favor de una concepción más adaptada a los nuevos tiempos académicos, en que el perenne desarrollo científico y cultural hace obsoletos los contenidos asimilados ayer. (shrink)

Health regulators must carefully monitor the real-world safety and effectiveness of marketed vaccines through post-market monitoring in order to protect the public’s health and promote those vaccines that best achieve public health goals. Yet, despite the fact that vaccines used in collective immunization programmes should be assessed in the context of a public health response, post-market effectiveness monitoring is often limited to assessing immunogenicity or limited programmatic features, rather than assessing effectiveness across populations. We argue that post-market monitoring ought to (...) be expanded in two ways to reflect a ‘public health notion of post-market effectiveness’, which incorporates normative public health considerations: effectiveness monitoring should yield higher quality data and grant special attention to underrepresented and vulnerable populations; and the scope of effectiveness should be expanded to include a consideration of the various social factors that maximize a vaccine’s effectiveness at the population level, paying particular attention to how immunization programmes impact related health gradients. We use the case of the human papillomavirus vaccine in Canada to elucidate how expanding post-market effectiveness monitoring is necessary to close the gap between clinical practice and public health, and to ensure that vaccines are effective in a morally relevant sense. (shrink)

En el presente estudio procuraremos determinar los dos ejes de la ética unamuniana, que, al estar vinculados con el dualismo antropológico “yo-íntimo” y “yo-público”, podríamos condensar en los conceptos de “bondad” y “obra”. Unamuno, en cuanto heredero del romanticismo y del existencialismo, consideró que lo fundamental, en términos axiológicos, era que los individuos aprendiesen a “ser buenos” y no a “hacer [meramente] el bien”, ya que solo a través de la pureza del sentir, es decir, de la “bondad ética”, el (...) “sujeto moral” podría constituirse como una “persona” a través de sus “obras”. En este aspecto, la relación de la ética unamuniana con los “oficios” es decisiva, ya que cada “individuo” a través de su “profesión” está llamado a formar su “persona”. (shrink)

Este estudio constituye un intento hermenéutico de lectura de la doctrina darwiniana de la evolución, de sus implicaciones filosóficas y de sus interpretaciones en el contexto español de finales del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX, según la perspectiva del rector unamuno. Se trata, pues, de analizar la interpretación que el autor realiza de la figura y de la obra del naturalista inglés a partir de los textos que tratan el tema de forma explícita y que se ubican entre (...) los años 1882 y 1912. (shrink)

It’s a familiar fact that there is something it is like to see red, eat chocolate or feel pain. More recently philosophers have insisted that in addition to this objectual phenomenology there is something it is like for me to eat chocolate, and this for-me-ness is no less there than the chocolatishness. Recognizing this subjective feature of consciousness helps shape certain theories of consciousness, introspection and the self. Though it does this heavy philosophical work, and it is supposed to be (...) relatively obvious to anyone who introspects, it is rather difficult to see just what this phenomenal me-ness is supposed to be; indeed, many philosophers deny it exists. In this paper we try to provide a clear sense of what phenomenal me-ness involves, and then then consider some arguments for the existence of phenomenal me-ness experience as well as some accounts of what gives rise to it. In the end, we argue that the plausible senses of me-ness are a good deal thinner than what often seems to be claimed. (shrink)

With an intellectual autobiography by Hans J. Morgenthau.

This discussion paper aims to explore potential ethical and moral implications of (patient) centredness in nursing and healthcare. Healthcare is experiencing a philosophical shift from a perspective where the health professional is positioned as the expert to one that re‐centres care and service provision central to the needs and desires of the persons served. This centred approach to healthcare delivery has gained a moral authority as the right thing to do. However, little attention has been given to its moral and (...) ethical theoretical grounding and potential implications for nurses, persons served and the healthcare system. Based upon a review of academic and grey literature, centredness is proposed as a value‐laden concept in nursing inquiry. Potential moral and ethical implications of centredness on nurses/healthcare providers, persons served and the healthcare system are discussed. These challenges are then considered within the context of normative and relational ethical theories. These perspectives may offer guidance relative to how one should act in those circumstances as well as an understanding as to how interdependency and engagement with the other person(s) can help navigate the challenges of a centred care approach. Viewing centredness through an ethical theoretical lens provides a valuable discourse to nursing in efforts to expand the knowledge base and integrate centred approaches into practice and policy. (shrink)

Fragment of an Intellectual Autobiography:- BY HANS J. MORGENTHAU h My first political memories go back to the Tripolitan War M of between Italy and Turkey ...

A mathematical model based upon catastrophe theory is derived to describe the kinematics of the wing beat in Dipteran flight. The parameters of the model correspond to anatomical and physiological characteristics of the insect.

Objectives: To discover the current state of opinion and practice among doctors in Victoria, Australia, regarding end-of-life decisions and the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia. Longitudinal comparison with similar 1987 and 1993 studies.Design and participants: Cross-sectional postal survey of doctors in Victoria.Results: 53% of doctors in Victoria support the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia. Of doctors who have experienced requests from patients to hasten death, 35% have administered drugs with the intention of hastening death. There is substantial disagreement among doctors concerning the (...) definition of euthanasia.Conclusions: Disagreement among doctors concerning the meaning of the term euthanasia may contribute to misunderstanding in the debate over voluntary euthanasia. Among doctors in Victoria, support for the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia appears to have weakened slightly over the past 17 years. Opinion on this issue is sharply polarised. (shrink)

We propose a naturalistic version of the “guesser–knower” paradigm in which the experimental subject has an opportunity to choose which individual to follow to a hidden food source. This design allows nonhumans to display the attribution of knowledge to another conspecific, rather than a human, in a naturalistic context (finding food), and it is readily adapted to different species.

BackgroundIn the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) cohort, participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, heart, and abdomen, that generated incidental findings (IFs). The approach to managing these unexpected results remain a complex issue. Our objectives were to describe the CAHHM policy for the management of IFs, to understand the impact of disclosing IFs to healthy research participants, and to reflect on the ethical obligations of researchers in future MRI studies.MethodsBetween 2013 and 2019, 8252 participants (...) (mean age 58 ± 9 years, 54% women) were recruited with a follow-up questionnaire administered to 909 participants (40% response rate) at 1-year. The CAHHM policy followed a restricted approach, whereby routine feedback on IFs was not provided. Only IFs of severe structural abnormalities were reported.ResultsSevere structural abnormalities occurred in 8.3% (95% confidence interval 7.7–8.9%) of participants, with the highest proportions found in the brain (4.2%) and abdomen (3.1%). The majority of participants (97%) informed of an IF reported no change in quality of life, with 3% of participants reporting that the knowledge of an IF negatively impacted their quality of life. Furthermore, 50% reported increased stress in learning about an IF, and in 95%, the discovery of an IF did not adversely impact his/her life insurance policy. Most participants (90%) would enrol in the study again and perceived the MRI scan to be beneficial, regardless of whether they were informed of IFs. While the implications of a restricted approach to IF management was perceived to be mostly positive, a degree of diagnostic misconception was present amongst participants, indicating the importance of a more thorough consent process to support participant autonomy.ConclusionThe management of IFs from research MRI scans remain a challenging issue, as participants may experience stress and a reduced quality of life when IFs are disclosed. The restricted approach to IF management in CAHHM demonstrated a fair fulfillment of the overarching ethical principles of respect for autonomy, concern for wellbeing, and justice. The approach outlined in the CAHHM policy may serve as a framework for future research studies.Clinical trial registrationhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/nct02220582. (shrink)

The Politics of the Soul: Eric Voegelin on Religious Experience includes eight essays examining one of the most profound studies of religious experience to appear in the last century: that of the political philosopher Eric Voegelin. Voegelin is increasingly recognized as a political theorist of exceptional scope and erudition and the most important philosopher of his time since Toynbee, and his treatment of religious experience is a crucial part of his overall analysis of existence and history. This collection of essays (...) by prominenet Voegelin scholars is the first book to explore the relevance of that analysis to the contemporary understanding of political theory, theology, history, and philosophy of consciousness, and as such it constitutes a significant contribution not only to Voegelin scholarship but to the current quest for theoretical foundations. (shrink)

Book reviewed in this article: Principles of Biomedical Ethics. By Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress.

Four ethical values — maximizing benefits, treating equally, promoting and rewarding instrumental value, and giving priority to the worst off — yield six specific recommendations for allocating medical resources in the Covid-19 pandemic: maximize benefits; prioritize health workers; do not allocate on a first-come, first-served basis; be responsive to evidence; recognize research participation; and apply the same principles to all Covid-19 and non–Covid-19 patients.

This article presents a critique of Philip Pettit’s concept of ‘freedom as non-domination’ and provides an alternative theory of both domination and republican political freedom. I argue that Pettit’s neo-republican concept of domination is insufficient to confront modern forms of domination and that this hampers his concept of republican freedom and its political relevance under the conditions of modernity. Whereas the neo-republican account of domination is defined by ‘arbitrary interference’, modern forms of domination, I argue, are characterized by routinization and (...) systemic forms of control and subordination. In the end, the neo-republican account of domination is more appropriate for 17th- and 18th-century social institutions rather than those that persist under modernity. In its place, I propose a more dynamic concept of domination and rework the concept of freedom in order to place the republican tradition within the context of modernity itself. I argue that the core insight of republicanism is its emphasis on the arrangement and reformation of social institutions to enhance social freedom. From this, I argue that republicanism can take its place as a more attractive alternative to liberal theory. (shrink)

In this new work, political theorist Michael J. Thompson argues that modern societies are witnessing a decline in one of the core building blocks of modernity: the autonomous self. Far from being an illusion of the Enlightenment, Thompson contends that the individual is a defining feature of the project to build a modern democratic culture and polity. One of the central reasons for its demise in recent decades has been the emergence of what he calls the cybernetic society, (...) a cohesive totalization of the social logics of the institutional spheres of economy, culture and polity. These logics have been progressively defined by the imperatives of economic growth and technical-administrative management of labor and consumption, routinizing patterns of life, practices, and consciousness throughout the culture. Evolving out of the neoliberal transformation of economy and society since the 1980s, the cybernetic society has transformed how that the individual is articulated in contemporary society. Thompson examines the various pathologies of the self and consciousness that result from this form of socialization--such as hyper-reification, alienated moral cognition, false consciousness, and the withered ego--in new ways to demonstrate the extent of deformation of modern selfhood. Only with a more robust, more socially embedded concept of autonomy as critical agency can we begin to reconstruct the principles of democratic individuality and community. (shrink)

This paper examines two questions about scientists’ search for knowledge. First, which search strategies generate discoveries effectively? Second, is it advantageous to diversify search strategies? We argue pace Weisberg and Muldoon (2009) that, on the first question, a search strategy that deliberately seeks novel research approaches need not be optimal. On the second question, we argue they have not shown epistemic reasons exist for the division of cognitive labor, identifying the errors that led to their conclusions. Furthermore, we generalize the (...) epistemic landscape model, showing that one should be skeptical about the benefits of social learning in epistemically complex environments. (shrink)

INTRODUCTION The Questions of Medical Ethics Call him Andrew. His face is gaunt and unshaven but peaceful. His eyelids are gently closed. ...

The debate about justice and health care has occurred largely at a remove from the institutions it concerns; it has been about our most general moral principles, and about what things we value. This debate has foundered. But if the debate is turned in another direction, toward some moral principles that are widely accepted within those institutions, and toward principles that have to do with control over allocation decisions rather than with actually how to make those decisions, agreement may be (...) nearer at hand. (shrink)