Should the philosophy of biology deal with organismic, or with molecular aspects , or with both ? We are, of course, not the first to appreciate the ...

In this research work a novel two-step system for anomaly detection is presented and tested over several real datasets. In the first step the novel Exploratory Projection Pursuit, Beta Hebbian Learning algorithm, is applied over each dataset, either to reduce the dimensionality of the original dataset or to face nonlinear datasets by generating a new subspace of the original dataset with lower, or even higher, dimensionality selecting the right activation function. Finally, in the second step Principal Component Analysis anomaly detection (...) is applied to the new subspace to detect the anomalies and improve its classification capabilities. This new approach has been tested over several different real datasets, in terms of number of variables, number of samples and number of anomalies. In almost all cases, the novel approach obtained better results in terms of area under the curve with similar standard deviation values. In case of computational cost, this improvement is only remarkable when complexity of the dataset in terms of number of variables is high. (shrink)

. Introductory Remarks THEODOSIUS DOBZHANSKY The problems of reduction in biology are currently of considerable theoretical interest and practical ...

Reseña: Omar García Corona. Una crítica descolonial de la Escuela de Frankfurt. Buenos Aires, Poliedro – Editorial de la Universidad de San Isidro, 2021.

In this paper I draw on Einstein's distinction between “principle” and “constructive” theories to isolate two levels of physical theory that can be found in both classical and (special) relativistic physics. I then argue that when we focus on theoretical explanations in physics, i.e. explanations of physical laws, the two leading views on explanation, Salmon's “bottom-up” view and Kitcher's “top-down” view, accurately describe theoretical explanations for a given level of theory. I arrive at this conclusion through an analysis of explanations (...) of mass—energy equivalence in special relativity. (shrink)

En el presente trabajo abordo la interpretación que Axel Honneth realiza, en su libro Crítica del poder, de la propuesta de Michel Foucault. Honneth señala, a modo de crítica, la existencia de una contradicción entre lo que denomina la teoría del poder de Foucault y sus estudios históricos –en particular, los reunidos en Vigilar y Castigar–. Uno de mis objetivos es explicar esta contradicción y, a partir de ella, proponer una lectura alternativa. En contraposición a Honneth, para quien las instituciones (...) disciplinarias que analiza Foucault terminarían desplazando la acción y la lucha social, intento mostrar –y este es el aporte que busco realizar en el trabajo a partir de una reconstrucción conceptual– que las disciplinas y por añadidura las instituciones disciplinarias deben considerarse tácticas que nunca alcanzan del todo su objetivo. Son tácticas que no logran bloquear, de manera definitiva, las expresiones de resistencia y conflictividad. Esta lectura alternativa que aquí propongo permitiría, en principio, ensayar al menos dos puntos de contacto entre Foucault y la teoría crítica que aún no han sido elucidados. (shrink)

In early hominins, there possibly was high selective pressure for the development of reciprocal mother and child vocalizations such as proposed by Falk. In this context, temporoparietal-prefrontal networks that participate in tasks such as working memory and imitation may have been strongly selected for. These networks may have become the precursors of the future language areas of the human brain.

El presente artículo se centra en Baldr, una de las figuras clave para entender la mitología germánica. En nuestro estudio damos un breve repaso por las fuentes literarias, toponímicas y arqueológicas que se refieren a esta divinidad, para pasar a continuación a esbozar una interpretación del papel del dios que muere en el corpus de esta mitología.

El presente artículo propone una lectura del Eutidemo de Platón a partir de la escena que tiene lugar en el prólogo del diálogo, en el cual un personaje misterioso critica a Sócrates y a los hermanos erísticos por la conversación que acaba de tener lugar. Defenderé que esta figura anónima esconde a Isócrates, quien en Contra los sofistas y Encomio de Helena había atacado a todos los discípulos de Sócrates por dedicarse a un tipo de actividad intelectual a su juicio (...) volcada a la pura disputa y sin utilidad para la vida cívica. Propondré que el Eutidemo constituye una respuesta a dicha crítica, en tanto que los dos modelos protrépticos de la obra le permiten a Platón distinguir su forma de emplear la dialéctica de la de otros de sus condiscípulos, principalmente los megáricos, así como sentar las bases de su proyecto filosófico-político fundado en el concepto de conocimiento. (shrink)

This work represents an attempt to stake out the landscape for dynamicism based on a radical dismissal of the information-processing paradigm that dominates the philosophy of cognitive science. In Section 2, after setting up the basic toolkit of a theory of minimal representationalism, I introduce the central tenets of dynamic systems theory (DST) by discussing recent research in the dynamics of embodiment (Thelen et al. [2001]) in the perseverative-reaching literature. A recent proposal on the dynamics of representation--the dynamic field approach (...) (Spencer and Schöner [2003])-- according to which the alleged representational gap between DST and representational theories of cognition needs to be bridged in order to explain higher-order cognitive activity will then be reviewed. In Section 3 I shall argue that Spencer and Schöner's attempt to bridge the representational gap may jeopardize the whole (antirepresentationalist) spirit of the DST project. In order to show why, I shall introduce the key concepts of "reliability of environment" and "primagenesis", and argue that DST can account for de-coupled, offline cognitive activity with no need of positing representational resources. Conclusions and directions for future research will follow. (shrink)

En este trabajo me propongo comparar el patrón argumentativo de los sofistas del siglo V a. C. tal como son retratados en la obra de Platón con el de los erísticos del Eutidemo. Defenderé que ninguno de estos sofistas es presentado por Platón como experto en dialéctica refutativa, actividad discursiva que caracteriza a la erística. Por el contrario, el retrato platónico de Pródico, Hipias, Gorgias y Protágoras los muestra como incapaces, desinteresados u hostiles a la argumentación de tipo dialéctica.

This article examines multinational banks’ approaches to corporate social responsibility in developing countries’ subsidiaries, particularly in Latin America. Building on in-depth case studies of two MNBs that are based in Europe and market leaders in Latin America, we analyze their CSR motivations and outcomes in host countries. We examine institutional environments by applying the national business system framework, and we suggest missing categories in its financial and educational dimensions. We theorize how institutional necessity determines MNBs' CSR in developing countries. Finally, (...) we examine the CSR outcomes in Latin America, where banks’ responsible conduct has led to major improvements in educational levels and financial inclusion. These improvements alleviate poverty and enhance both country's social wellbeing and MNBs’ legitimacy, leading to mutual prosperity. (shrink)

RESUMEN Una interpretación extendida del Eutidemo sostiene que la práctica erística de la cual Platón busca distanciarse en el diálogo constituye una referencia velada a la dialéctica desarrollada por el socrático Euclides y sus seguidores megáricos. No obstante, los expertos reconocen que la segunda demostración erística pone en boca de Eutidemo y Dionisodoro dos posiciones que fueron defendidas por Antístenes, según las cuales no es posible decir falsedades ni contradecir. Este trabajo busca analizar las refutaciones de dicha sección y confrontarlas (...) con los testimonios sobre Antístenes a fin de evaluar hasta qué punto nos encontramos en presencia de los mismos argumentos. Defenderé que si bien las refutaciones del Eutidemo poseen una inspiración antisténica, principalmente respecto de las tesis que buscan sostener, las mismas se basan en una serie de supuestos ambiguos que responden más a los lineamientos de la práctica erística que a los fundamentos del pensamiento antisténico. Argumentaré, asimismo, que esta diferencia podría explicarse a partir del hecho de que el Eutidemo puede ser leído como una respuesta al Encomio de Helena de Isócrates, en donde este ataca a los socráticos por dedicarse a la erística y al desarrollo de doctrinas paradójicas, entre las cuales incluye las tesis de Antístenes. ABSTRACT A widespread interpretation of the Euthydemus claims that the Eristic practice from which Plato seeks to distance himself in the dialogue constitutes a veiled reference to the dialectics developed by the Socratic Euclid and his Megarian followers. However, experts acknowledge that the second Eristic demonstration puts two positions in the mouth of Euthydemus and Dionysodorus which were defended by Antisthenes, according to which it is not possible to say falsehoods nor to contradict. This work seeks to analyze the refutations of this section and compare them with the testimonies about Antisthenes in order to evaluate to what extent they are the same arguments. I will defend that although the refutations of the Euthydemus have an Antisthenic inspiration, mainly with respect to the theses they seek to support, these are based on a series of ambiguous assumptions that correspond more to the principles of Eristics than to the grounds of Antisthenic thought. I will also argue that the difference could be explained by the fact that the Euthydemus can be understood as a response to Isocrates ’ Encomium of Helen, where he attacks the whole Socratic circle for devoting to Eristics and to the development of paradoxical doctrines, including the theses of the Antisthesis. (shrink)

The 9/11 attacks in the USA had profound political consequences at both domestic and international levels. Specific and controversial policy developments were pursued requiring substantial legitimation to find acceptance. A prime example was the USA PATRIOT Act, which was passed in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and subsequently received considerable critique due to the sweeping nature of its redefinition of what was acceptable in the cause of ‘fighting terror’. The media, and their construal of events and policies, played a significant (...) role in the necessary process of legitimation. In this paper, we explore how one particular area of the media, the superhero comic book, was also active in this regard. By focusing specifically on the multimodal meaning construction within Marvel's Civil War comics series, we suggest how a close multimodal discourse analysis can shed further light on the mechanisms by which particular discourse contexts of public opinion are propagated. (shrink)

This work proposes an interpretation of Euthydemus 283c-288b taking into account the problem of the false in the Sophist. My hypothesis will be that the second eristic demonstration of the Euthydemus can be understood as a representation of Sophist 236d-239b: while in this passage there it is the Stranger is the one who states what the sophist would say to defend himself from the seventh definition, in which he is accused of producing falsehoods, in the Euthydemus two sophists are who (...) use the notions of non-being and falsehood to refute such accusation. The work has three parts. Firstly, I shall analyze Sophist 236d-239b and contextualize it within the framework of the seventh definition. Secondly, I focus on the characterization of Euthydemus and Dionysodorus as sophists. Finally, I analyze the three arguments that organize the second demonstration of the Euthydemus, trying to understand its structure and its role in the drama of the dialogue. (shrink)

This essay explores the intersection of the reality of journey, present in the lives of so many recent immigrant Latinos/as, with the theme of journey as found in the Fourth Gospel. This exploration raises questions about what it means to live in the United States as a Latino/a as well as questions about the role of the plot of the Fourth Gospel in negotiating bicultural relations.

El artículo ofrece, en un inicio, algunos aspectos biográficos novedosos de la vida de Manuel Antonio Talavera, un teólogo paraguayo y abogado de la Real Audiencia que enseñó filosofía en Chile a finales del siglo XVIII. Luego, se presenta la transcripción de parte del curso de filosofía natural (De corporibus coelestibus) preparado para los alumnos del Real Convictorio Carolino de Santiago de Chile. Hasta ahora, Talavera es conocido sobre todo como el primer cronista de la Independencia de Chile. Por ello, (...) hacemos público por primera vez de manera íntegra un trabajo suyo relativo a su actividad docente en aulas santiaguinas, con lo que descubrimos también su condición de filósofo en Chile durante el fin del período colonial. (shrink)

In this study, a hybrid model based on intelligent techniques is developed to predict the active power generated in a bioclimatic house by a low power wind turbine. Contrary to other researches that predict the generated power taking into account the speed and the direction of the wind, the model developed in this paper only uses the speed of the wind, measured mainly in a weather station from the government meteorological agency (MeteoGalicia). The wind speed is measured at different heights, (...) against the usual measurements in others researches, which uses the wind speed and the direction measured in a weather station on the wind turbine nacelle. The prediction is performed 30 minutes ahead, what ensures that the Building Management System knows the energy generated by the low power wind turbine 30 minutes before, and it can adapt the consumption of different equipment in the house to optimize the power use. The main objective is to allow the Building Management System to optimize the uses of energy, taking into account the predicted amount of energy that will be produced and the energy consumed in the house. The developed model uses a hybrid topology with four clusters to improve the prediction, achieving an error lower than 6.5% for Mean Absolute Error measured in a final test. To perform this test, part of the original dataset was isolated from the beginning of the training process to check the model with a dataset that is not used before, simulating the model as it is receiving new data. (shrink)

Los Servicios de Inteligencia en la fase que se extiende desde el final de la guerra civil hasta el fallecimiento del General Franco sufrieron, como es lógico, las vicisitudes propias de una organización que estuvo sometida, en un principio, a la situación mundial, derivada del desarrollo de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y ala precariedad de medios, humanos y materiales, fundamentalmente hasta la década de los años 70, que se derivaban de la propia situación nacional. En sus orígenes estuvieron obligados a (...) mantener una estructura similar a la existente durante la guerra civil, como consecuencia del desarrollo de la guerra en Europa…. (shrink)

Hospitality can be considered a key institution in the social relationships in the ancient Mediterranean. To identify the people involved in a hospitality agreement, in certain contexts small objects were used in a similar way to a password, which the Greeks called symbolon and the Romans tessera hospitalis. We know how the latter were used thanks to Plautus' Poenulus. At least 64 pieces are currently known which may be identified as tesserae hospitales. All come from the Western Mediterranean. The majority (...) contain brief inscriptions, written in Etruscan, Latin, Greek, or Celtiberian. They share a series of common features, which impart a clear family resemblance beyond geographic, cultural, or linguistic borders. (shrink)

In this article Jason Brennan’s arguments about the moral duties relating to our practice of voting are examined. These arguments provide an epistocratic approach of politics and present a conception of abstention at four levels: abstention as a personal choice, as a moral responsibility, as a duty legally enforceable and as an obligation decided by lot. The contrast with John Stuart Mill’s positions helps to highlight the postdemocratic ambivalences and the latent paternalism behind Brennan’s rejection of massive voting and electoral (...) democracy. A deliberative, Millian-inspired understanding of abstention also allows questioning the assumption in Brennan’s successive proposals that there is no significant loss in overlooking the political valence of qualified abstention. (shrink)

In this paper, I engage in the debate on the definition of the cyborg. I identify the two defining components of the traditional definition of the cyborg: the symbiotic relationship between human nature and technology; and the embodiment of a superhuman or inhuman feature or ability. Then, I trace these two components in the scholarly debate on the cyborg. To conclude, I explore the role the scholarly view of the cyborg plays in the debate on cyborg-athletes in the philosophy of (...) sport. (shrink)

O presente artigo detém o intuito de analisar a implementação do sistema de precedentes judiciais adotado pelo Brasil no Novo Código de Processo Civil, diante da teoria de Ronald Dworkin. O Brasil historicamente adota o sistema denominado de Civil Law, o qual adota a lei como fonte principal do Direito, dando ao precedente judicial um caráter secundário e não vinculante. Ante a nova atualização legislativa do Código de Processo Civil de 2015, que vislumbra a adoção de um sistema de precedentes, (...) o Brasil deve superar diversas dificuldades para adequar este sistema ao ordenamento jurídico, pois a maior dificuldade provém do fato da ausência de costume ao observar os precedentes como fonte do Direito. O texto faz uma análise sobre os sistemas judiciais de Civil Law e Common Law trazendo a diferença entre os sistemas e as fontes do Direito que cada um adere, bem como disserta sobre as teorias relativas à Interpretação e Integridade de Ronald Dworkin. Por fim, investiga as alterações legislativas no Código de Processo Civil, bem como a fundamental importância das teorias de Dworkin para implementar no Brasil de maneira correta o sistema de precedentes judiciais. A metodologia utilizada foi o método indutivo de abordagem e o método de procedimento foi o método monográfico. As fontes de pesquisa utilizadas foram as mais diversificadas, tais como livros, artigos, pesquisas em sites, consulta de outras monografias, consulta de tese de mestrado e jurisprudências. (shrink)

This book describes the philosophical principles underlying the political project often called “classical liberalism”. By this expression is meant the project for society proposed, during the second half of the eighteenth century, by David Hume and Adam Smith in Great Britain, Turgot and Condorcet in France, Thomas Jefferson in the United States and Kant and Humboldt in Germany. The differences between the principles of “classical liberalism” and those of the extreme doctrines of Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek (often confused with (...) 'classical liberalism') are clearly explained. This book has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Vietnamese, Rumanian and Turkish. A more complete second edition "Les fondements philosophiques du libéralisme", published in2002, exists and is downloadable from the authors page at Philpeople. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo es teorizar el andamiaje integrado por las categorías de modos de apropiación de lo real, formas de la conciencia y contemplación estética, construida con referentes kantianos, hegelianos y marxistas. Con base en un esquema de investigación, los escritos más representativos fueron revisados y fichados en una base de datos; el fichero fue codificado y redactado el texto final. Se encontró que la conciencia individual se constituye con referentes de diferentes modos de apropiación de lo real (...) adquiriendo una forma determinada: empírica, mágico-religiosa, artística o teórica. A cada modo de apropiación corresponde una forma de conciencia y un determinado tipo de experiencia plena pero, la presencia de referentes de distintos modos de apropiación, permite que el mismo sujeto establezca experiencias de distinto tipo. (shrink)

International Scientific Relations offers a holistic analysis of the role and impact of science, technology, and innovation in the international system of the twenty-first century.

Quentin Meillassoux defiende una posición llamada “materialismo especulativo”, la cual asegura haber alcanzado –por un procedimiento estrictamente racional– algo absoluto. Con este gesto afirma ir más allá de la crítica kantiana y del fideísmo. Esta postura es muy diferente de los materialismos tradicionales, pero también de todo tipo de absoluto metafísico, pues niega la validez del principio de razón suficiente y rechaza la existencia necesaria de cualquier entidad. Lo único necesario para Meillassoux es el principio que afirma que todo es (...) contingente, y la concomitante irrazón de todo lo que existe. El autor objeta que se pueda sostener racionalmente que lo real carece de inteligibilidad, a la vez que argumenta que se puede justificar la tesis del surgimiento ex nihilo de la vida, el pensamiento, e incluso de la divinidad, con el razonamiento de que la contingencia radical de todo implica también que todo es posible, excepto lo contradictorio. (shrink)

This paper attempts to go more deeper into some ways to identify persons whose claims on justice are legitimate, trying to go beyond the traditional principles of territoriality and citizenship, which are considered inadequate for the current globalized world. Here we analyze the ideas offered from a theoretical perspective which seeks to relate the concepts of justice and democracy, extending the reflexive dynamics of politics beyond its traditional frontiers to the constitution of the demos itself.

The notion of responsibility seeks to establish a connection between agents and some harm or injustice, imposing on them the duty to make things right. The identification of responsibilities is therefore a fundamental step in the work of fighting against injustices, by imposing concrete obligations on particular agents. However, our globalizing world puts in crisis the traditional assumptions on which this idea is based. In this article I examine the reasons for this crisis and I offer alternative interpretations to avoid (...) the problems identified. I argue in favour of adopting a structural perspective that leaves aside the interactional point of view of ethics. (shrink)