Este estudio se propone destacar los resultados ofrecidos en la edición crítica y traducción portuguesa del libro De Legibus Uvm I Da Ley em Geral de F. Suárez, a cargo del mancomunado esfuerzo de investigadores lusos contemporáneos, quienes examinaron esa Obra de jurisprudencia nacida de las lecciones que F. Suárez diera desde 1601-3 y que plasmara en la edición original del tratado de Coimbra en 1612. Subrayo aspectos de la doctrina política que dejarán al descubierto un Suárez plura novavit, influyente (...) en la conformación moderna de la republica democrática. This paper calis the attention on the outcome of the research offered in the critical edition and Portuguese translation of the book De Legibus Livro I Da Ley em Geral de F. Suárez, done by the joint effort of contemporary Researchers, who examined that work of jurisprudence born of the lectures that Suarez gave around 1601-3, and that resulted in the original 1612 edition of the Coimbra treatise. I underline aspects of the political doctrine, which exposes a plura novavit-Suarez that promote a new form of the political regimes and influence in the shaping of the modern democratic republic. (shrink)

Al final del Libro II del An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke manifiesta que «hay una relación tan íntima entre las ideas y las palabras […] que es imposible hablar clara y distintamente de nuestro conocimiento, que consiste completamente en proposiciones, sin considerar, primero, la naturaleza, uso y significación del lenguaje». De varias y diversas maneras Locke insiste en la tesis que ‘las palabras significan ideas’. En este ensayo me propongo: 1º resumir la teoría general del lenguaje de Locke; 2º (...) revisar algunas objeciones regulares a esta teoría, y 3º intentar una explicación de lo que Locke quiere decir cuando enuncia que ‘las palabras significan ideas’. Con respecto a este punto mostraré, apoyando la interpretación de E. J. Ashworth, que en su tesis semántica Locke usa el vocablo ‘significar’ (‘signifying’) no del modo como es usado por los teóricos contemporáneos del siglo XX, sino en el sentido que algunos escolásticos usaron el término ‘significare’. At the very end of Book II of ‘An Essay Concerning Human Understanding’, Locke finds out «that there is so close a connexion between Ideas and Words […] that it is impossible to speak clearly and distinctly of our Knowledge, which all consists in Propositions, without considering first the Nature, Use, and Signification of Language». In various and diverse ways Locke defends the thesis that ‘Words signify Ideas’. My aim in this paper is first, to sum up Locke’s general theory of Language; secondly, to revisit some regular objections concerning this theory, and thirdly, to intend an explanation of what Locke means when he points out that ‘Words signify ideas’. In regard to this point, I shall hold up E. J. Ashworth’s interpretation to show that Locke semantic thesis involves the use of the verb ‘to signify’ (‘signifying’) not in the manner that it is used by contemporary theorists of the twentieth century, but in the sense that some scholastics used the term ‘significare’. (shrink)

A pesar de la producción e influencia doctrinal de Suárez en el campo de la teología, su obra Varia opuscula theologica, en la que se incluye el Opúsculo Teológico Segundo, no ha sido objeto de detallada reconstrucción crítica. Esta obra contribuyó al complejo debate sobre cómo se entiende la presencia de Dios en el mundo, es decir, cómo sería el concurso de la gracia, el pre-conocimiento, la predestinación, la providencia divina con la libertad humana, a lo cual se denominó la (...) controversia De auxiliis. El presente estudio analiza uno de los recursos especulativos singulares de la doctrina jesuita moderna cual es la ciencia media divina. A los planteamientos molinistas, Suárez agrega la argumentación lógica que haría corresponder los grados del saber omnisciente divino con los grados de la acción libre humana. (shrink)

Victor Salas, Robert Fastiggi (eds.), A Companion to Francisco Suárez, Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, vol. 53, Leiden, Boston, Brill, 2015, xii + 383 pp., ISSN 1871-6377.

Suárez y la Filosofía Moderna Resumen: Los intérpretes de hoy debaten sobre el estatuto y la asociación de Francisco Suárez con la Filosofía Moderna. Este estudio enfoca los principales aspectos de la filosofía especulativa y práctica del pensador jesuita, con el propósito de mostrar que, en las diversas disciplinas abordadas, Suárez ha tomado en cuenta genealógicamente, la formalización de las teorías precedentes: las ha re-formulado en términos metodológicos para progresar. A su preferencia parcial por pruebas a priori, agrega datos de (...) experiencia con respecto a los postulados de la metafísica. Por otra parte, innova en la adopción del lenguaje médico imperante en materias de psicología moral y en la intrincación de las disciplinas teológicas y jurídica, en materias políticas. Con este proceder, que se distingue del estrictamente propedéutico para la investigación científica, alcanza una comprensión adecuada de los fenómenos y, a partir de sus replanteamientos establece el curso de figuras representativas del pensamiento moderno. Palabras clave: Suárez; ontologia; epistemologia; psicología moral; filosofía política; filosofía moderna. Suárez and Modern Philosophy Abstract: Today's interpreters debate the status and association of Francisco Suárez with Modern Philosophy. This paper focuses on the main aspects of the speculative and practical philosophy of the Jesuit thinker, with the purpose of showing that, in the various disciplines approached, Suárez has taken into account genealogically the formalization of the preceding theories: he has reformulated them in methodological terms to progress. To his partial preference for a priori proofs, he adds data of experience regarding the postulates of metaphysics. On the other hand, he innovates in the adoption of the prevailing medical language in matters of moral psychology and in the intricacy of theological and legal disciplines, in political matters. With this procedure, which differs from the strictly propaedeutic for scientific research, he reaches an adequate understanding of the phenomena and, from the rethinking of it, establishes the course of representative figures of modern thought. Key-words: Suárez; ontology; epistemology; moral psicology; political philosophy; Modern philosophy. Suárez e a Filosofia Moderna Resumo: Os intérpretes de hoje debatem o estatuto e a associação de Francisco Suárez com a Filosofia Moderna. Este estudo enfoca os principais aspectos da filosofia especulativa e prática do pensador jesuíta, com o propósito de mostrar que, nas várias disciplinas abordadas, Suárez teve em conta genealogicamente a formalização das teorias precedentes: ele reformulou em termos metodológicos para o progresso. À sua preferência parcial por provas a priori, ele adiciona dados da experiência sobre os postulados da metafísica. Por outro lado, inova na adoção da linguagem médica predominante em questões de psicologia moral e na complexidade das disciplinas teológicas e jurídicas, em questões políticas. Com esse procedimento, que difere do estritamente propedêutico para a pesquisa científica, ele chega a uma compreensão adequada dos fenômenos e, a partir de seu repensar, estabelece o curso de figuras representativas do pensamento moderno. Palavras-chave: Suárez; ontologia; epistemologia; psicologia moral; filosofia política; filosofia moderna. Data de registro: 16/09/2021 Data de aceite: 01/12/2021. (shrink)

Hybride der Romantik: Frankenstein, Olimpia und das künstliche Leben. Dieser Beitrag untersucht Vorstellungen über die Möglichkeit der Erzeugung künstlicher Lebewesen in der Zeit der Romantik und die damit verbundenen Ängste am Beispiel zweier fiktionaler Texte: Mary Shelleys Frankenstein und Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmanns Sandmann. Dr. Franksteins Monster und Dr. Spalanzanis Automat verkörpern – auf unterschiedliche Weise – die Möglichkeit einer Wendung wissenschaftlicher Produkte und insbesondere künstlicher Hybride ins Monströse. Ihre Geschichten thematisieren das Grauen, das vom drohenden Kontrollverlust ausgeht und als (...) der modernen Wissenschaft innewohnende Gefahr selbst nach der Zerstörung der monströsen Kreaturen bestehen bleibt. Der Begriff des Unheimlichen, von Ernst Jentsch und Sigmund Freud mit Bezug auf Hoffmanns Sandmann formuliert und 1970 von dem japanischen Robotiker Masahiro Mori als Phänomen „des unheimlichen Tals“ (Uncanny Valley) weiterentwickelt, erlaubt weitere Einblicke in die Frage nach künstlichen Lebewesen und ihre Interaktion mit Menschen. Summary: Hybrids of the Romantic: Frankenstein, Olimpia, and Artificial Life. This essay analyzes fantasies and fears related to the possible creation of artificial humans in two influential pieces of Romantic literature, namely E.T.A. Hoffmann's Der Sandmann and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Both the automaton Olimpia and Dr. Frankenstein's monster are hybrid creatures. These dystopian figures represent the Romantic fear of the loss of control over the outcome of human endeavour, they symbolize the dangers immanent in modern science and technology. As hybrids, Olimpia and Frankenstein's monster are capable of breaking apparently unpenetrable boundaries, such as those between human and non‐human, and between life and death. As such, these creatures become “unheimlich” (uncanny), a critical term developed by Ernst Jentsch and Sigmund Freud, who directly referred to Hoffmann's Sandman. The term “uncanny” was further developed by the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in the 1970s. Mori's investigation of human responses to androids (“Uncanny Valley”), shows the persistence of doubts and fears surrounding artificial humans far beyond the Romantic times, and opens new questions related to the issues of creation, reproduction, hybrids, hubris and gender. (shrink)

La hipótesis del presente estudio es que las meditaciones morales de Descartes incluyen una doctrina de las pasiones del alma y una concepción de la vida, ambas intrínsecamente vinculadas. Nuestro propósito será entonces: Primero, mostrar que tras el análisis del corpus cartesiano es posible reconstruir aspectos centrales de su meditación moral: que su meditación moral incluye una doctrina innovadora de las pasiones. Segundo, mostraremos que para Descartes ethos y pathos están vinculados; que este vínculo se hace explícito en sus ideas (...) del conocimiento práctico, esto es, de una praxis que se identifica con el «ejercicio de la virtud» y del «vivre heureusement». Tercero, concluimos respondiendo a la pregunta ¿Dónde descansa la moralidad en Descartes? ¿Es para él un asunto de la pura razón? ¿Un asunto más allá de la pura razón? ¿Uno de conceptos, de juicios, de carácter, de educación, de acción y conocimiento práctico o uno de propiedades intrínsecas de las cosas o propiedades de los agentes humanos, o bien de una cierta conexión entre varios de estos? (shrink)

An attempt is made to recognize the coherence of Suárez's political postulates and his anthropology. For this purpose I translate a selection of texts, mainly from the third Book of the De opere sex dierum, which gives testimony of the foundations that reveal not only indications of a thought pre-illustrated in Suárez, but the relevance of topics found in his writings that remain to be explored in any of its volumes. I have divided this work into two sections: The first (...) makes brief mention of the defense of the equality of the sexes in François Poullain de la Barre. Furthermore, it refers to the political virtue of Descartes and his defense of the difference of the sexes. The crucial section exhibits forgotten arguments from Suárez's treatise De opere sex dierum, where the question of the equality of the sexes is addressed. (shrink)

What makes Carlo Michelstaedter’s life and work worthy of a reflection on Italian aesthetics is his erratic attitude when taking a stance in the ancient discord between Philosophy and Poetry. This, since Plato’s times, as an original item, expects and transcends each historical chapter of the literary critique and each kind of philosophy of history. Michelstaedter justapoxes names such as Parmenides, Sophocles, Socrates, Christ and the Ecclesiastes in an anti-genealogical manner, that is against fathers and masters as well as sons (...) and disciples. Everything that, in his short life, he could read and study in Latin, Greek, German and Italian, was bound to death against institutions and codes, against the family and the University, against the audience and every literary genre attended by the world in which he was born. Michelstaedter reads Parmenides’ Carminum reliquiae as a poetic emergency and sees in Socrates the one who becomes this poetry. The bold link between Parmenides’ ontology and Socrates’ dialectics constitutes the climax of an iconoclastic and anti-mimetic poiesis. Rhadamanthus’ justice, results bitter to Michelstaedter. It discerns, that is, the original relationship of Socrates with death from that which was superimposed by Plato ; he distinguishes Socrates’ beautiful death from that which was enticed by Hegesias, the death-persuader, in the naive; he places Socrates next to Sophocles and the Ecclesiastes, against the mortal event of the birth. Socrates, in case, did not die because of the “cicuta” which parted him from the pain of living, nor because of the eternal idea that he’s been contemplating ever since with his immortal soul. He died, instead, after having become something divine and devilish, something that distracts him since his childhood from everything he is about to do, every time, and eventually leads him nowhere. From this anti-contemplative perspective, Michelstaedter acknowledges in every philosophy intended to reconcile the absolute and relative, the rhetoric artifice aimed at concealing an original aporia which can only be dishonestly swayed, rather than overcome. (shrink)

Dossier: L’humilité Présentation du dossier. Coordonné par Elisa Grimi. Essays and contributors: L’intelligence de l’humilité, Carla Canullo; La virtù dell’umiltà e l’eudemonismo, Mario Micheletti; Humility – A work of love?, Katharine Opalka; L’humilité intellectuelle, la foi et l’épistémologie, Roger Pouivet; L’irriducibile ragionevolezza di un paradosso. L’umiltà secondo Tommaso d’Aquino e Gilbert K. Chesterton, Marco Salvioli, O.P.; L’Humilité, une ontologie de l’identité, Elisa Grimi.

Several arguments suggest that motor planning may share embodied neural mechanisms with mental rotation (MR). However, it is not well established whether this overlap occurs regardless of the type of stimulus that is manipulated, in particular manipulable or non-manipulable objects and body parts. We here used high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to examine the cognitive similarity between MR of objects that do not afford specific hand actions (chairs) and bodily stimuli (hands). Participants had identical response options for both types of stimuli, and (...) they gave responses orally in order to prevent possible interference with motor imagery. MR of hands and chairs generated very similar behavioral responses, time-courses and neural sources of evoked-response potentials (ERPs). ERP segmentation analysis revealed distinct time windows during which differential effects of stimulus type and angular disparity were observed. An early period (90–160 ms) differentiated only between stimulus types, and was associated with occipito-temporal activity. A later period (290–330 ms) revealed strong effects of angular disparity, associated with electrical sources in the right angular gyrus and primary motor/somatosensory cortex. These data suggest that spatial transformation processes and motor planning are recruited simultaneously, supporting the involvement of motor emulation processes in MR. (shrink)

Este ensayo describe una particular experiencia estética, basada en la obra gráfica La confianza, de Goya, perteneciente a la serie de los Caprichos e invenciones, que son paisajes de pesadilla que ilustran la crisis social de la época de las Luces. Desde aquí, desarrollaré una hermenéutica personal que avanza por tres escenarios teóricos sobre lo que implicaría la confianza de una mujer en otra, a partir del soporte de imagen. Las diversas tesis teóricas se sitúan en la órbita del pensamiento (...) feminista de actualidad y en donde se representarán a tres autoras: Muraro, Despentes y Braidotti. Finalmente, este dispositivo de interpretación permitirá relevar el arte de Goya a propósito de una posible revisión de crítica social sobre la virtud de la confianza. (shrink)

Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are widely believed to possess considerable socialization strengths. However, the findings on social cognition capabilities are controversial. In the present study, we investigated whether individuals with DS exhibit shortage in face tuning, one of the indispensable components of social cognition. For this purpose, we implemented a recently developed Face-n-Food paradigm with food-plate images composed of food ingredients such as fruits and vegetables. The key benefit of such ‘face like non-face’ images is that single elements do (...) not facilitate face processing. In a spontaneous recognition task, 25 children with DS aged 9 to 18 years were presented with a set of Face-n-Food images bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style. The set of images was administered in a predetermined order from the least to most resembling a face. In DS individuals, thresholds for recognition of the Face-n-Food images as a face were drastically higher as compared not only with typically developing controls, but also with individuals with autistic spectrum disorders and Williams-Beuren syndrome. This outcome represents a significant step towards better conceptualization of visual social world in DS and neurodevelopmental disorders in general. (shrink)

BackgroundCerebral Visual Impairment is a very common finding in children affected by Cerebral Palsy. In this paper we studied the characteristics of CVI of a large group of children with CP and CVI, describing their neurovisual profiles according to three different age subgroups.MethodsWe enrolled 180 subjects with CP and CVI for the study. We carried out a demographic and clinical data collection, neurological examination, developmental or cognitive assessment, and a video-recorded visual function assessment including an evaluation of ophthalmological characteristics, oculomotor (...) functions, and basic visual functions. In school-aged children, we also performed an evaluation of their cognitive-visual profiles.ResultsThere were signs of CVI in all the three subgroups. Subgroup 1 and subgroup 2 were different for fixation, visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, being more frequently impaired in younger children. Comparing subgroup 2 with subgroup 3, the older children presented more frequently myopia while the younger ones esotropia and alteration in smooth pursuit and saccades. Furthermore, fixation, smooth pursuit, visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and visual filed were more frequently impaired in younger children compared to the older ones. Multiple correspondence analysis confirmed the different neurovisual profiles according to age: younger children with CP showed more signs of CVI compared to the older ones. 34 out of 68 children belonging to subgroup 3 underwent the cognitive visual evaluation; an impairment of cognitive visual skills was detected in 21 subjects.ConclusionYounger children with CP showed more signs of CVI compared to the older ones, likely for the physiological maturation of visual system and mechanisms of neuroplasticity. In this direction, we suggest an early neurovisual evaluation to detect any weak visual functions. (shrink)

Contrary to spontaneous yawning, which is widespread in vertebrates and probably evolutionary ancient, contagious yawning—yawning triggered by others’ yawns—is considered an evolutionarily recent phenomenon, found in species characterized by complex sociality. Whether the social asymmetry observed in the occurrence of contagious yawning is related to social and emotional attachment and may therefore reflect emotional contagion is a subject of debate. In this study we assessed whether yawn contagion was enhanced in pregnant women, a cohort of subjects who develop prenatal emotional (...) attachment in preparation for parental care, via hormonal and neurobiological changes. We predicted that if yawn contagion underlies social and emotional attachment, pregnant women would be more likely to contagiously yawn than nonpregnant, nulliparous women of reproductive age. We gathered data in two different settings. In the experimental setting, 49 women were exposed to video stimuli of newborns either yawning or moving their mouth and we video-recorded the women during repeated trials to measure their yawning response. In the naturalistic setting, 131 women were observed in a social environment and their yawning response was recorded. We tested the factors influencing the yawning response, including the reproductive status. In both settings, yawn contagion occurred significantly more in pregnant than nonpregnant women. By showing that pregnant women were most likely to respond to others’ yawns, our results support the hypothesis that the social variation observed in yawn contagion may be influenced by emotional attachment and that yawning in highly social species might have been coopted for emotional contagion during evolution. (shrink)

In the essay I analyse Micheletti’s three theses concerning: (a) the notion of mystery in relation to the “evidentialistic claim”; (b) analogical metaphysics in relation to “univocist immanentism” and to the importance of developing an analogical theism; (c) the fallibilistic conception of reason in relation to natural law, universalistic ethics and the so-called “essentialism” applied to individual human nature. I will try to show how deep is the intertwining and mutual implication of mystery and analogy – in metaphysics and (...) theology, in epistemology and ontology, in anthropology and ethics – and how Micheletti’s works have been an important step in bringing these two notions back to the center of the discussion that introduces oneself in the “question of God” and in the “question of Human being”. (shrink)

Discuto la tesi di Micheletti secondo la quale ogni spiegazione fattuale presuppone premesse di ordine superiore rispetto alla spiegazione (M.Micheletti, “Radical Divine Alterity and the God-World Relationship”). Nella prima sezione del testo introdurrò la tesi, muovendo dalla analisi di alcuni esempi di spiegazione, ed elencherò le ragioni che (apparentemente) richiedono la postulazione di higher-degree propositions per rendere conto di factual propositions. Nella seconda sezione regimenterò logicamente la tesi di Micheletti. Nella terza sezione discuterò la validità della logica (...) della spiegazione così introdotta, con un’attenzione particolare alla analisi semantica della nozione di spiegazione, allo statuto modale delle ragioni che costituiscono una spiegazione, e all’approccio grammaticale alle higher order propositions. Nella quarta e ultima sezione avanzerò brevissime considerazioni conclusive. (shrink)