Technological developments in the sphere of artificial intelligence (AI) inspire debates about the implications of autonomous weapon systems (AWS), which can select and engage targets without human intervention. While increasingly more systems which could qualify as AWS, such as loitering munitions, are reportedly used in armed conflicts, the global discussion about a system of governance and international legal norms on AWS at the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (UN CCW) has stalled. In this article we argue for the (...) necessity to adopt legal norms on the use and development of AWS. Without a framework for global regulation, state practices in using weapon systems with AI-based and autonomous features will continue to shape the norms of warfare and affect the level and quality of human control in the use of force. By examining the practices of China, Russia, and the United States in their pursuit of AWS-related technologies and participation at the UN CCW debate, we acknowledge that their differing approaches make it challenging for states parties to reach an agreement on regulation, especially in a forum based on consensus. Nevertheless, we argue that global governance on AWS is not impossible. It will depend on the extent to which an actor or group of actors would be ready to take the lead on an alternative process outside of the CCW, inspired by the direction of travel given by previous arms control and weapons ban initiatives. (shrink)

Background: A growing number of frameworks for the practice of clinical ethics are described in the literature. Among these, hermeneutical frameworks have helped highlight the interpretive and contextual nature of clinical ethics practice. Objectives: The aim of this article is to further advance this body of work by drawing on the ideas of Charles Taylor, a leading hermeneutical philosopher. Design/Findings: A Hermeneutical Rapprochement Framework is presented for clinical ethics practice, based on Taylor’s hermeneutical “retrieval” and “rapprochement.” This builds on existing (...) hermeneutical approaches for the practice of clinical ethics by articulating a framework with interpretive and reconciliatory scope that extends beyond the presenting “local” context. A Hermeneutical Rapprochement Framework considers broader socio-historical horizons and imaginaries grounded on Taylor’s expansive work in epistemological, ontological, political, and moral philosophy. Discussion: The framework is discussed in terms of how it can be operationalized for clinical practice as well as normative development. Implications for the educational preparation of clinical ethicists are also discussed. Although this work is directly relevant for clinical ethicists, it can also help inform the ethical practice of all clinicians. (shrink)

Although most aspects of world and self-consciousness are inherently subjective, neuroscience studies in humans and non-human animals provide correlational and causative indices of specific links between brain activity and representation of the self and the world. In this article we review neuroanatomic, neurophysiological and neuropsychological data supporting the hypothesis that different levels of self and world representation in vertebrates rely upon i) a 'basal' subcortical system that includes brainstem, hypothalamus and central thalamic nuclei and that may underpin the primary (or (...) anoetic) consciousness likely present in all vertebrates; and ii) a forebrain system that include the medial and lateral structures of the cerebral hemispheres and may sustain the most sophisticated forms of consciousness (e.g. noetic (knowledge based) and autonoetic, reflective knowledge). We posit a mutual, bidirectional functional influence between these two major brain circuits. We conclude that basic aspects of consciousness like primary self and core self (based on anoetic and noetic consciousness) are present in many species of vertebrates and that, even self-consciousness (autonoetic consciousness) does not seem to be a prerogative of humans and of some non-human primates but may, to a certain extent, be present in some other mammals and birds. (shrink)

Hermeneutics, also referred to as interpretive phenomenology, has led to important contributions to nursing research. The philosophy of Charles Taylor has been a major source in the development of contemporary hermeneutics, through his ontological and epistemological articulations of the human sciences. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that Taylor's ideas can further enrich hermeneutic inquiry in nursing research, particularly for investigations of ethical concerns. The paper begins with an outline of Taylor's hermeneutical framework, followed by a review of (...) his key ideas relevant for ethics research. The paper ends with a discussion of my empirical research with critically ill children in Canada and France in relation to Taylor's ideas, chiefly Social Imaginaries. I argue that Taylor's hermeneutics provides a substantive moral framework as well as a methodology for examining ethical concerns. (shrink)

The process of completing, correcting and prioritising specifications is an essential but very complex task for the maintenance and improvement of software systems. The preservation of functionalities and the ability to accommodate changes are main objectives of the software development cycle to guarantee system reliability. Logical theories able to fully model such processes are still insufficient. In this paper we propose a full formalisation of such operations on software systems inspired by the Alchourrón–Gärdenfors–Makinson paradigm for belief revision of human epistemic (...) states. We represent specifications as finite sets of formulas equipped with a priority relation that models functional entrenchment of properties. We propose to handle specification incompleteness through ordered expansion, inconsistency through ordered safe contraction and prioritisation through revision with reordering, and model all three in an algorithmic fashion. We show how the system satisfies basic properties of the AGM paradigm, including Levi’s and Harper’s identities. We offer a concrete example and complexity results for the inference and model checking problems on revision. We conclude by describing resilience and evolvability of software systems based on such revision operators. (shrink)

Une théorie de la politique n'existe pas dans la pensée libertine intéressée à l'élaboration d'un modèle moral concentré sur la dimension de la vie privée. Pourtant à l'intérieur de cette tradition dans la deuxième moitié du VIIe siècle en France, s'amorce un filon à cheval entre utopie et roman d'aventure dans lequel apparaissent des formes d'organisation sociétales modelées selon les principes de la liberté, égalité, tolérance qui constitueront les mots d'ordres des philosophes des lumières.

This analysis presents an epistemological and moral examination of suffering. It addresses the specific questions: (1) What is suffering? (2) Can one's suffering be assessed by another? and (3) What is the moral significance of suffering? The epistemological analysis is orientated by Peter Hacker's framework for the investigation of emotions, demonstrating that suffering is an emotion. This leads to a discussion of whether suffering is a phenomenon that can be evaluated objectively by another person who is not experiencing the suffering, (...) questioning the validity of some decisional models for limiting life-sustaining therapies with the aim of preventing suffering. This analysis highlights that understandings of suffering are value laden. It is conventionally implied that suffering is `bad' and that it should be eliminated. Suffering is commonly regarded as a moral wrong that needs to be made right by health care. This article concludes with a recommendation for a paradigm shift in how suffering can be better understood, through the practice of empathic attunement. (shrink)

Corporate greenwashing, a significant manifestation of the decoupling of corporate social responsibility, has attracted considerable attention from stakeholders. Based on the internal governance theory, this study examines listed Chinese companies from 2011 to 2021 to assess the effects of managerial decision horizons on corporate greenwashing behaviours. Our finding shows that a shorter managerial decision horizon exacerbates corporate greenwashing. The robustness of the result has been verified by employing various methods, including the use of instrumental variables, the two-stage Heckman model and (...) alternative variable substitution. Additionally, the study reveals the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and identifies reduced environmental investment as one of the channels through which myopic managerial decision-making enhances corporate greenwashing. The results also indicate that financial constraints on firms intensify the impact of managerial myopia on greenwashing, whereas the proportion of female executives and investors' site visits mitigate this effect. This study presents important implications for stakeholders governing corporate greenwashing by elucidating the relationship between managerial decision horizons and greenwashing. (shrink)

Nos mais recentes debates críticos acerca da filosofia de Platão, a doutrina da reminiscência tem suscitado um interesse comparativamente menor em relação aos outros temas tratados na obra do pensador ateniense. Grande parte dos estudiosos modernos tende a considerar a reminiscência um método de pesquisa, bem como a marginalizar a referência a dois mundos e o trânsito da alma entre eles. O que pretendo demonstrar neste artigo é que não só a teoria da reminiscência é a condição de possibilidade necessária (...) das nossas operações cognitivas, como também o é apenas e só em virtude da sua valência metafísica. (shrink)

Franco Eugeni remembers Bruno Rizzi: in this brief introduction, I would like to remember an afternoon spent in “ Roma Tre ” with Bruno, since we were both Ordinary Professors at that University. We passed it doing a dense program of work for the next three years. At 6.00 pm, I left for “Roseto degli Abruzzi”. At six o'clock a.m. of the next morning, I still have the voice in my ears. A phone call from the Headmaster Ciro d'Aniello, (...) who told me " The Professor is dead" In that afternoon, Emilio Ambrisi and I went to Rome; we were stunned and desperate. Not many days later, a conference was held at the University of Teramo; it was the conference that we had prepared for Bruno, to celebrate his 60th birthday, but it was his memory. In the opening conference, Prof. Antonino Giambo, also fraternal friend of Bruno, burst into a tearful cry, which expressed in a moment, the senses of friendship and love that we all had for the missing friend! Starting from this work with Fabrizio Maturo, the study of some problems left open by the works of Eugeni and Rizzi will be investigated. Sunto Ricordo di Franco Eugeni su Bruno Rizzi: in questa brevissima introduzione vorrei ricordare un pomeriggio passato a Roma Tre con Bruno, visto che allora eravamo entrambi Professori Ordinari in quella Università. Lo passammo a fare un denso programma di lavoro per i successivi tre anni. Alle 18.00 ripartii per Roseto degli Abruzzi. Alle sei del mattino successivo, ho ancora la voce nelle orecchie, una telefonata del Preside Ciro d’Aniello, che mi diceva “ Il Professore è morto” Nel pomeriggio Emilio Ambrisi ed io ci recammo a Roma, eravamo attoniti e disperati. Non molti giorni dopo si tenne presso l’Università di Teramo un Convegno, era il Convegno che avevamo preparato per Bruno, per festeggiare i suoi 60 anni, fu invece il ricordo. Nella conferenza di apertura il prof. Antonino Giambò, anche lui, come noi, fraterno amico di Bruno, scoppiò in un pianto dirotto, che espresse in un attimo, i sensi dell’amicizia e dell’amore, che tutti noi avevamo per l’amico scomparso! A partire da questo lavoro con Fabrizio Maturo verrà approfondito lo studio di alcune problematiche rimaste aperte dai lavori di Eugeni e Rizzi. (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)

Currently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, young people are experiencing a decrease in self-efficacy and an increase in mental illness. Though previous studies have shown that self-efficacy and divergent thinking training are positively related, little is known about the impact of divergent thinking training on self-efficacy and emotions. Therefore, our study seeks this answer to support teenagers injured psychologically during disastrous periods. We randomly assigned 70 students to a 2 × 2 mixed design. Participants in the experimental group were given (...) a 9-day divergent thinking training with the theme of “writing down 10 novel functions of the mask,” while those in the control group spent 10 min each day recording what they ate. The self-efficacy, anxiety, depression, and stress of two groups were measured before and after training. Results showed that, compared to the control group, self-efficacy ceased decreasing while anxiety decreased for the experimental group. These findings confirm the positive effect of divergent thinking on teenagers. Implications and limitations are discussed. (shrink)

In this paper we investigate the connections between quantifier elimination, decidability and Uniform Craig Interpolation in Δ-core fuzzy logics added with propositional quantifiers. As a consequence, we are able to prove that several propositional fuzzy logics have a conservative extension which is a Δ-core fuzzy logic and has Uniform Craig Interpolation.

Con E = m c2 la teoria della relatività ha generato una conquista conoscitiva di enorme importanza. Tuttavia la stessa teoria ha svuotato di significato oggettivo questa scoperta affermando che i punti di vista divergenti dei diversi osservatori inerziali sul valore numerico di Esono equivalenti. Una recente critica della nozione relativistica del tempo ha spostato il baricentro concettuale della fisica dello spazio e del tempo verso l'esistenza di un sistema privilegiato, restituendo alla formula di Einstein tutta la sua importanza.

Durante los años menemistas, las políticas públicas de memoria estuvieron orientadas principalmente a “pasar la página”. Los mayores exponentes de esta postura fueron los indultos a los jerarcas de las Fuerzas Armadas de la última dictadura militar (1976-1983), decretados y publicados entre los años 1989 y 1991. Años después, otro suceso volvió a hacerla particularmente visible: el intento de demoler los edificios de la ESMA y colocar en su lugar un monumento a la “reconciliación nacional”. Esto despertó gran polémica con (...) los organismos de DDHH, con la oposición y dentro de la propia alianza gobernante y fue, además, el puntapié inicial para lo que hoy es el Sitio de la Memoria ex-ESMA. Sin embargo, hubo otras políticas culturales en este período que también son una muestra del afán de dejar atrás la memoria sobre los años de violencia política y represión, y que pasaron más desapercibidos. Este artículo propone un análisis del caso de los monumentos referidos al bombardeo a Plaza de Mayo del 16 de junio de 1955, atentado perpetrado por miembros de las Fuerzas Armadas en el que murieron más de 300 personas, colocados en la década de 1990. Tomando como caso análogo lo propuesto para el predio de la ESMA, se analizará el texto de los decretos –y en segundo plano el de los indultos en el año 1991– en relación al contenido de los memoriales. (shrink)

Resumo: A história e a multidimensionalidade da docência oportunizam diferentes compreensões sobre sua gênese e desenvolvimento. As inúmeras contradições que configuram o ato pedagógico, podem ser consideradas como um dos elementos que dificultam explicar a docência de maneira linear e simplificada. Neste complexo contexto, questiona-se como a práxis pedagógica pode produzir condições de compromisso social e político com a docência, em substituição ao conceito de vocação? Para responder à esta questão, desenvolveu-se pesquisa crítico bibliográfica a partir do aporte teórico de (...) Freire (1993, 1996), Nóvoa (2003) e Franco (2008, 2012, 2016), buscando consolidar a ideia de que ao desenvolver a docência na perspectiva crítica, esta práxis vai vocacionando o professor ao exercício da docência cada vez mais comprometida socialmente e com os ideais de humanização que a caracterizam. Palavras-chave: Docência Crítica; Vocação; Práxis Pedagógica Critical teaching: a praxis that built vocations Abstract: The history and multidimensionality of teaching provide oppotunities for different understandings about it’s genesis and development. The numerous contradictions that shape the pedagogical act can be considered as one of the elements that maked difficult the explain teaching in a linear and simplified way. In this complex context, one wonder how pedagogical praxiscan produce conditions of social and political commitment to teaching, replacing the concept of vocation? To answer this question, a critical bibliographic research was developed based on the theoretical contribution of Freire (1993, 1996), Nóvoa (2003) and Franco (2008, 2012, 2016), seeking to consolidate the idea that When developing teaching in from a critical perspective, this práxis will lead the teacher to the exercise of teaching that is increasingly socially committed and with the ideals of humanization that charactize it. Keywords: Critical Teaching; Vocation; Pedagogical Práxis La enseñanza crítica: una praxis que construyó vocaciones Resumen: La historia y la multidimensionalidad de la enseñanza brindan diferentes entendimientos sobre su génesis y su desarrollo. Las innumerables contradicciones que configuran el acto pedagógico pueden considerarse como uno de los elementos que dificultan la explicación de la docencia de forma lineal y simplificada. En este contexto complejo, uno se pregunta cómo la praxis pedagógica puede producir condiciones de compromiso social y político con la enseñanza, reemplazando el concepto de vocación. Para responder a esta pregunta, se desarrolló una investigación bibliográfica crítica basada en el aporte teórico de Freire (1993, 1996), Nóvoa (2003) y Franco (2008, 2012, 2016), buscando consolidar la idea de que al desarrollar la docencia desde una perspectiva crítica, esta praxis conducirá al docente al ejercicio de una enseñanza cada vez más comprometida socialmente y con los ideales de humanización que la caracterizan. Palabras claves: Enseñanza Crítica; Vocación; Praxis Pedagógica Data de registro: 29/06/2022 Data de aceite:26/10/2022. (shrink)

The still unsettled decision problem for the restricted purely universal formulae 0-formulae) of the first order set-theoretic language based over =, ∈ is discussed in relation with the adoption or rejection of the axiom of foundation. Assuming the axiom of foundation, the related finite set-satisfiability problem for the very significant subclass of the 0-formulae consisting of the formulae involving only nested variables of level 1 is proved to be semidecidable on the ground of a reflection property over the hereditarily finite (...) sets, and various extensions of this result are obtained. When variables are restricted to range only over sets, in universes with infinitely many urelements the set-satisfiability problem is shown to be solvable provided the axiom of foundation is assumed; if it is not, then the decidability of a related derivability problem still holds. That, in turn, suggests the alternative adoption of an antifoundation axiom under which the set-satisfiability problem is also solvable . Turning to set theory without urelements, assuming a form of Boffa's antifoundation axiom, the complement of the set-satisfiability problem for the full class of Δ0-formulae is shown to be semidecidable; a result that is known not to hold, for the set-satisfiability problem itself, even for a very restricted subclass of the Δ0-formulae. (shrink)

Today, we believe that the map is a copy of the Earth, without realizing that the opposite is true: in our culture the Earth has assumed the form of a map. In Blinding Polyphemus, Franco Farinelli elucidates the philosophical correlation between cultural evolution and shifting cartographies of modern society, giving readers an interdisciplinary study that attempts to understand and redefine the fundamental structures of cartography, architecture, and the notion of "space." Following the lessons of nineteenth-century critical German geography, this (...) is a manual of geography without any map. To indicate where things are means already responding, in implicit and unreflective ways, to prior questions about their nature. Blinding Polyphemus not only takes account of the present state of the Earth and of human geography, it redefines the principal models we possess for the description of the world: the map, above all, as well as the landscape, subject, place, city, and space. (shrink)

We consider the superposition of macroscopically distinguishable states for a measuring process whose time evolution is described by the Schrödinger equation. We ask whether it is possible to observe interference effects due to the above mentioned superposition and how to observe them, taking into consideration an experiment performed by other authors. We find a necessary condition in order to be able to observe these effects. We also point out some very serious difficulties in observing them and analyse the connection between (...) some of these difficulties and the Wigner-Araki-Yanase theory. We try to explain why the whole problem seems to us to be far from having a solution and we suggest some paths we think worthy of further investigation. (shrink)

A la luz de un análisis de las costumbres practicadas por la sociedad griega heroica, en la presente contribución se intenta esclarecer por qué la visión cristiana del mundo puede ser considerada paso fundamental hacia eso que Vico llama "Edad de los Hombres".This paper tries to explain -in the light of an analysis of customs practiced in the heroic Greek society- why the Christian conception of the world can be considered as a fundamental step towards what Vico calls the "Age (...) of Men". (shrink)