"El éxito de Maquiavelo se manifiesta de forma clara en su virulenta influencia en el pensamiento político español de la segunda mitad del siglo XVI y primera mitad del siglo XVII. No es nada sorprendente que en aquellas centurias fuese leído y muy conocido en la Península, pues la política española estaba muy vinculada a Italia. Asimismo, la influencia del maquiavelismo llega hasta la actualidad y cubre prácticamente todo el mundo latinoamericano. Este volumen, por primera vez, ofrece un panorama más (...) amplio de la influencia de la teoría política del florentino tanto en España como en América. Los capítulos de este volumen han sido elaborados por especialistas académicos de uno y otro lado del mundo hispano. En el fondo, lo que este libro alienta es la idea de que cualquier comprensión teórica en español en la actualidad debe pasar por una reflexión en sentido global euroamericano."--P. [4] of cover. (shrink)

Theoreticians of deliberative democracy have sometimes found it hard to relate to the seemingly contradictory experimental results produced by psychologists and political scientists. We suggest that this problem may be alleviated by inserting a layer of psychological theory between the empirical results and the normative political theory. In particular, we expose the argumentative theory of reasoning that makes the observed pattern of findings more coherent. According to this theory, individual reasoning mechanisms work best when used to produce and evaluate arguments (...) during a public deliberation. It predicts that when diverse opinions are discussed, group reasoning will outperform individual reasoning. It also predicts that individuals have a strong confirmation bias. When people reason either alone or with like-minded peers, this confirmation bias leads them to reinforce their initial attitudes, explaining individual and group polarization. We suggest that the failures of reasoning are most likely to be remedied at the collective than at the individual level. (shrink)

This collection of essays examines the ways in which disputes and controversies about the application of scientific knowledge are resolved. Four concrete examples of public controversy are considered in detail: the efficacy of Laetrile, the classification of homosexuality as a disease, the setting of safety standards in the workplace, and the utility of nuclear energy as a source of power. The essays in this volume show that debates about these cases are not confined to matters of empirical fact. Rather, as (...) is seen with most scientific and technical controversies, they focus on and are structured by complex ethical, economic, and political interests. Drs. Engelhardt and Caplan have brought together a distinguished group of scholars from the sciences and humanities, who sketch a theory of scientific controversy and attempt to provide recommendations about the ways in which both scientists and the public ought to seek more informed resolutions of highly contentious issues in science and technology. Scientific Controversies is offered as a contribution to the better understanding of the roles of both science and nonscientific interests in disputes and controversies pertaining to science and technology. (shrink)

El artículo aborda el desafío de una conceptualización de la realidad socio-histórica que rompa con la separación entre lo real como externalidad y el sujeto. Lo anterior pasa por redefinir la idea de objetividad. Se requiere encontrar un concepto de subjetividad constituyente que no sea operativo por reducciones al plano de las variables psicológicas, pero que tampoco se resuelva como simple expresión de procesos macrohistóricos. Desde un punto de vista metodológico, realza el contrapunto entre contenidos teóricos permanentes y la transitoriedad (...) de los sujetos. Se afirma que para poder armonizar desarrollo humano y desarrollo social, se requieren relaciones sociales que no impliquen dominación económica ni política. Llegado a esto, se pregunta: ¿Es que el capitalismo se esconde detrás de la democracia, por lo que ésta, en su propio nombre, se niega así misma? (shrink)

Many fields of study have shown that group discussion generally improves reasoning performance for a wide range of tasks. This article shows that most of the population, including specialists, does not expect group discussion to be as beneficial as it is. Six studies asked participants to solve a standard reasoning problem—the Wason selection task—and to estimate the performance of individuals working alone and in groups. We tested samples of U.S., Indian, and Japanese participants, European managers, and psychologists of reasoning. Every (...) sample underestimated the improvement yielded by group discussion. They did so even after they had been explained the correct answer, or after they had had to solve the problem in groups. These mistaken intuitions could prevent individuals from making the best of institutions that rely on group discussion, from collaborative learning and work teams to deliberative assemblies. (shrink)

We introduce the Profinite Hull functor of special groups, showing that it gives rise to a new local - global principle, the subform reflection property. We also indicate applications of this principle to the abstract algebraic theory of quadratic forms.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:498 BOOK REVIEWS generations of theologians across denominational lines. Both Placher and Hunsinger at the end of their essays choose quotations from within Frei's own writings to give a synoptic portrait of the man and his work. Placher chooses a remark about Niebuhr's sense of vocation as a theologian (20), and Hunsinger one about knowledge of that seemingly elusive reality, a person's identity (257). However one might come away (...) from this challenging collection of essays, further confused or more enlightened, more in agreement or disagreement, I think every reader will recognize the coincidence of intellectual perspicuity and generosity with passionate faith. Regis College, Toronto School of Theology Toronto, Ontario, Canada GEORGE P. SCHNER, S.J. Reasoned Faith. Edited by ELEONORE STUMP. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993. Pp. x + 364. As the editor remarks in her "Introduction," it is not so long ago that the analytical philosophy of religion consisted very largely of discussions of the meaningfulness of religious language, and of arguments about the existence of God. Nowadays it is more adventurous, ranging over such topics as creation, providence, and God's responsibility for sin. According to Robert Merrihew Adams, the statement "truth is subjectivity," though one of the most famous, is also one of the most misunderstood in Kierkegaard's writings. He argues that, taken in context within the Concluding Unscientifu: Postscript, the statement is by no means incompatible with the objective truth of religious belief. From the point of view of the Postscript, a member of an idolatrous community who prays to her God with "the entire passion of the infinite" has more of the truth than one who prays in a false spirit from within Christendom; but this implies that the latter does have some truth. Whatever the deficiencies in her faith, she is clearly admitted to be in possession of the true concept of God objectively speaking (223 ). Adams maintains, quite rightly in the reviewer's opinion, that the Postscript is excessively pessimistic about the integration of the ideals of subjectivity and objectivity, of passionate commitment on the one side and rational assessment of evidence on the other, in religious faith (21). A useful distinction is made by Scott MacDonald between "occurrent" and "dispositional" belief; this seems to resolve some of the more puzzling paradoxes about the relation of the more cognitive and propositional side of faith to other aspects which may be thought essential to it. The demons alluded to by St. James (2:19) might believe dispositionally that their highest fulfillment BOOK REVIEWS 499 was to be found in obeying the divine will, and so performing acts of charity and service to other creatures. But to avoid the inconvenience of acting in such a way, they could think of God occurrently as just a powerful being who makes burdensome demands (55). For MacDonald, the cognitive component of faith has only two elements, belief that certain propositions are true, and belief that the kind of response of the will which is also essential to faith may be grounded on these (56). "We can make sense of Christian faith if we think of it simply as belief that Christianity is true plus an appropriate volitional response to that truth" (69). Against mainline Christian accounts like those of Augustine and Aquinas, he sees no good reason to suppose that one cannot have faith in propositions for which one has conclusive proof, but only in those for which one's justification is relatively weak. He provides interesting grounds for contradiction of a view which has been expounded by both Robert Adams and John Hick, that only such uncertainty can ground the trust which is essential to the relationship which human beings ought to have to God (59). "My ability to love and trust my wife, to commit myself without reservation to her well-being and to the goals and purposes we have chosen as definitive of our common life seem in no way dependent on my being uncertain about what she is like or what she will do" (60). On the question of how faith ought to be related to the demands of reason, Robert Audi remarks that, up to the middle 1970s... (shrink)

Anhand des phänomenologischen Begriffs der Auffassung soll die Beziehung von Freudscher Psychoanalyse und Husserlscher Phänomenologie näher bestimmt werden. Dabei wird von einer methodologischen Fragestellung ausgegangen, die sich allerdings notwendig auch zu einer inhaltlich bestimmten Perspektive weiten muss. Die These ist, dass die Phänomenologie sich in der Auseinandersetzung mit dem grundverschiedenen Ansatz der Psychoanalyse selbst genauer verstehen lernt, und zwar vor allem in ihrem Anspruch auf Wissenschaftlichkeit, in ihrer Forderung nach anschaulicher Ausweisung von philosophischer Wahrheit und in der Problematisierung des Subjektbegriffs.

Resumen El presente artículo ofrece una interpretación teleológica de la vida consciente y se basa, sobre todo, en la postura fenomenológica de Emmanuel Levinas. Sin embargo, es preciso tener en mente que la fenomenología husserliana está siempre presente como sustrato de ésta. Por ello, a partir de una lectura en que ambas perspectivas se complementan, trazaré un esquema en el que la totalidad de la conciencia se realiza como teleológica y explicaré el papel preponderante que cumple la síntesis en los (...) procesos de constitución para desarrollar los elementos de la ética levinasiana que culminan en una lectura teleológica de la vida consciente. Así, la infinitud con la que Levinas describe el encuentro ético deja de ser sólo una instancia de corte ético-ontológico para describir un momento teleológico.The present paper proposes a teleological interpretation of conscious life based on the phenomenology of Emmanuel Levinas. However, since Husserlian phenomenology serves always as a background for Levinas’s position, I offer a reading in which both views complement each other. First I lay out a scheme in which the totality of consciousness is realized as teleological and then I explain the predominant role played by synthesis in the constitution processes in order to develop the elements of a levinasian ethics culminating in a teleological reading of conscious life. Thus, the infinity with which Levinas describes the ethical encounter ceases to be only an instance of an ethical-ontological dimension to describe a teleological moment as well. (shrink)

El presente Dossier de Euphyía sobre Ética Ambiental y Animal reflexiona sobre la urgente necesidad de revisar nuestras teorías éticas tradicionales ante la crisis ambiental actual. Los editores destacan cómo la ética ha evolucionado desde su enfoque antropocéntrico hacia una consideración más inclusiva que abarca animales, ecosistemas y el entorno inorgánico. Este cambio surge frente a los impactos negativos de la industrialización y la explotación irracional de la naturaleza. Los artículos abordan diversas perspectivas críticas. Entre ellos, se examinan las tensiones (...) entre ecologismo y animalismo, las prácticas antropocéntricas históricas en relación con los animales, y las propuestas de ética ambiental basadas en la responsabilidad hacia futuras generaciones. También se analizan los desafíos éticos y políticos que plantea el cambio climático, como el desplazamiento climático y los derechos de las comunidades afectadas. El dossier promueve una ética ampliada que reconozca la interconexión entre humanos y naturaleza, y que confronte los paradigmas especistas y antropocéntricos. Al hacerlo, busca fomentar una reflexión interdisciplinaria que inspire tanto el pensamiento filosófico como el activismo en pro de un planeta más sostenible y equitativo para todos sus habitantes. (shrink)

Resumo Pode um filme ser filosófico ? Para os filósofos analíticos esta questão dá origem àquilo que Paisley Livingston designou por “problema da paráfrase”, um dilema intratável para os adeptos da “tese audaciosa”, segundo a qual alguém pode envolver-se com a filosofia através do cinema. Este artigo defende que a prática corajosa de Stanley Cavell, de sempre procurar abordar a filosofia através do cinema, demonstra a importância de um baluarte sediado na autenticidade das análises conceptuais cinematográficas, que vieram a ser (...) conhecidas como “ideias cinematográficas”. Destacaremos neste artigo, alguns exemplos em Jean Vigo, Nicholas Ray, Robert Bresson e nos filmes de Eric Rohmer, graças à análise penetrante de Stanley Cavell, Victor Perkins e Andrew Klevan. Concluir-se-á, que o designado problema de paráfrase está mal postulado, por causa de uma concepção tímida e reducionista sobre a análise filosófica. Palavras-chave : cinema como filosofia, filosofia através do cinema, Paisley Livingston, problema da paráfrase, Stanley Cavell, tese audaciosaCan a film be philosophical ? The analytic philosophers of film agree that this question raises what Paisley Livingston calls “the problem of paraphrase”, an intractable dilemma for the adherents of the “bold thesis” according to which one can indeed engage philosophy through film. This article maintains that the courageous practice of Stanley Cavell, one who always sought to address philosophy through film, demonstrates the significance of a bulwark of authentic cinematographic conceptual analyses that would come to be known as “cinematographic ideas”. Highlighted below are some examples in Jean Vigo’s, Nicholas Ray’s, Robert Bresson’s and Eric Rohmer’s films thanks to the penetrating analysis of Stanley Cavell, Victor Perkins and Andrew Klevan. It follows that the so-called problem of paraphrase is ill-posed because of a reductionist and timid conception of philosophical analysis. Keywords : bold thesis, film as philosophy, Paisley Livingston, philosophy through film, problem of paraphrase, Stanley Cavell. (shrink)

Goethes Ästhetik.--Wahrheit, Freiheit und Liebe in der griechischen Tragödie.--Plato und Kant, ein Dialog.--Der Tyrann in Platos Werk.--Die Autonomie der Ästhetik.--Wissen und religiöser Glaube in Platos Werk.

This article analyzes the practices of integration with virtual learning environments, and focuses on knowing the teaching practices used with virtual environments in the Upper Middle Level (NMS) of the University of Guanajuato (UG). The purpose of this article is first to review the literature and obtain some teaching models on good teaching practices in virtual education that allow identifying characteristics of effective practices, and as a second purpose the results of a specific case study on the incorporation of practices (...) with the use of virtual learning environments are analyzed. A bibliographic review of 3 proposals with 9 evaluation characteristics is analyzed, in which it was found that some of the teaching practices with the integration of virtual environments are: constant student-teacher communication, timely information feedback, flexibility in education and interactivity. Based on these proposals, a descriptive study was defined that was supported by the collection of data from an instrument applied to 20 teachers of the Upper Middle Level of the University of Guanajuato and the results allowed the identification of some effective teaching practices in the management of virtual environments. (shrink)

"A book from the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith, and Ethics." Includes bibliographical references (p. [141]-195) and index.

The three main Chinese teachings can all be used to develop a framework for corporate governance in China. Recently, the Confucian classic the Dizi gui has emerged as a matter of academic and social interest in Mainland China. Some entrepreneurs have decided to revert to the moral rules set out in this book to decide on complex moral dilemma. Our research aims to explore an actual case in which a business leader from Beijing succeeded in transforming his moral aspiration into (...) a viable business model. Willing to break out from a deteriorated business environment in which he was competing, he used the Dizi gui to develop a set of moral principles, out of which he articulated his decision-making strategy. (shrink)