In this paper, we propose a performative account of hinge epistemology to make the case for a feminist hinge epistemology. We characterize it as follows: 1) there are hinges that enable and govern our ordinary epistemic practices, functioning as rules; 2) these hinges are enacted and actualized in the specific actions of agents that participate in such practices; 3) this makes room for the transformation and emergence of hinges; 4) against this background, we argue in favor of the possibility of (...) feminist hinges. This novel account opens the way for hinge epistemology to be useful for feminist goals in epistemology, which we believe is the ultimate criterion for hinge epistemology to be legitimately feminist. (shrink)

Rawls no habría podido proveer una teoría de la justicia capaz de regular las relaciones internacionales, algo que otros pensadores rawlsianos (Beitz, Pogge) creyeron necesario. Este artículo intenta explicar las razones que impedían ese cometido. De una parte, el estrecho nexo entre la justicia, como una virtud, y la unidad política, solo en el contexto de la cual esa virtud tiene sentido. Al menos así lo ha entendido la tradición filosófica. De otra parte, las decisiones meta-filosóficas que Rawls toma y (...) su afán de hacer de la suya una teoría de la justicia "post-metafísica" y "estrictamente política". This article tries to explain why it was impossible for Rawls to develop a normative theory ofjustice for international relations; something that has been demanded by some rawlsian thinkers (Beitz, Pogge, etc.). There were two obstacles for such an enterprise. On one hand, the link established by the philosophical tradition between justice, as a political virtue, and the political unity (polis, national-state, etc.). On the other hand, Rawls' meta-philosophical decisions, which make his a 'post-metaphysical' and 'strictly political' theory of justice. (shrink)

In a 1998 article, Bohman argued that the contemporary deliberative turn in democratic theory had reached its ‘coming of age’, as deliberative democrats began to show greater interest in the institutionalization of their proposal. Moreover, Bohman referred to this growing interest with an expression that was unprecedented at the time: ‘deliberative constitutionalism’. At present, deliberative constitutionalism has become one of the most original and relevant contemporary proposals. In this context, my article proceeds as follows. I begin by arguing that the (...) contemporary deliberative turn in democratic theory also gave rise to a deliberative turn in constitutionalism—that is, a trend aimed at orienting constitutionalism and judicial review towards democratic deliberation. Next, I argue that, at that embryonic yet promising stage, deliberative constitutionalism had shortcomings that hindered the aim assumed since its origins. Finally, I argue that, over recent decades, these shortcomings have been finessed, which shows that deliberative constitutionalism has also reached its coming of age. (shrink)

A distinguishing feature of neural computation and information processing is that it fits models that describe the most efficient strategies for performing different cognitive tasks. Efficiency determines a distinctive sense of teleology involving optimal performance and resource management through a specific strategy. I articulate this kind of teleology and call it efficient teleological function. I argue that efficient teleological function is compatible with mechanistic explanation and, most likely, neural computational mechanisms are efficiently functional in this sense. They are members of (...) a distinctive class of computational mechanisms whose efficiency is intertwined with their functionality. This is illustrated by widely discussed approaches to mind, such as Barlow’s efficient coding hypothesis or the ones associated with the so-called “predictive mind”, which propose that the brain employs highly efficient coding strategies to save energy resources that are critical to the organism’s survival. (shrink)

Motivated by the definition of semi-Nelson algebras, a propositional calculus called semi-intuitionistic logic with strong negation is introduced and proved to be complete with respect to that class of algebras. An axiomatic extension is proved to have as algebraic semantics the class of Nelson algebras.

The work of Jalisco architect Luis Barragán Morfín is one of the highest expressions of Mexican architecture of the 20th century. Born from a thoughtful creative process, it combines tradition and modernity in a unique way. From the work bequeathed by Barragán, there are some masterpieces of enormous importance and some significant reflections on the creative act of conceiving architecture that we recover in this book-folder of engravings stamped as a tribute to this singular character. Accompanying the reflections presented as (...) plates, Nacho Gómez Arriola produced numerous printed engravings of the original plates on Fabriano Murillo handmade cotton paper and a book with an essay on his work and reflections. (shrink)

This paper is an invitation to reflect on the advisability of analysing philosophy from a naturalistic perspective. That is, from a perspective that considers philosophy as if it was one more cultural object, which can be studied using the tools that we have available to us today and that are provided by disciplines such as evolutionary psychology or anthropology oriented by a distinctly cognitivist approach. A central concept in the analysis is that of “intuitive ontology” – closely linked to intuitive (...) (or folk-) philosophy or the spontaneous, naïve (natural) way of thinking that is associated with common sense – which is a result of the evolutionary process and a source of metaphysical prejudices such as dualism. A metaphilosophical reflection, such as that proposed here, identifies the “natural” character of a transcendent metaphysics that is still too close to intuitive philosophy, and the interest of constituting a naturalistic philosophy that is fully conscious of its “unnatural” or “counterintuitive” character. (shrink)

This paper is a review of the 6th European Spring School (Maó, 2011). We have considered all the communications (key-note lectures, papers and posters). After introducing the meeting and a few details about the organization, we have presented an idea of the topics discussed during the School. We have followed a classification based on the type of narrative used. Finally, we have introduced some conclusions, new challenges, and future work.

L. Polo es un buen maestro, más preocupado por descubrir la verdad que por ser entendido. Su pensar es paciente, la atención, concentrada. Mantiene la congruencia entre el nivel del método cognoscitivo que emplea y los temas reales conocidos que estudia. En él destacan tres cualidades: la audacia en el buscar, la convivencia con la verdad y la apertura universal al saber.

Dieser Band enthält die vier Arbeiten Freges: Begriffsschrift, eine der arithmetischen nachgebildeten Formelsprache, 1879; Anwendungen der Begriffsschrift, 1879; Über den Briefwechsel Leibnizens und Huggens mit Papin, 1881; Über den Zweck der Begriffsschrift, 1883; Über die wissenschaftliche Berechtigung einer Begriffsschrift, 1882. Frege's research work in the field of mathematical logic is of great importance for the present-day analytic philosophy. We actually owe to Frege a great amount of basical insight and exemplary research, which set up a new standard also in other (...) fields of knowledge. As the founder of mathematical logic he severely examindes the syllogisms on which arithmetic is built up. In doing so, Frege recognized that our colloquial language is inadequate to define logic structures. His notional language corresponded to the artaivicial logical language demandes by Leibniz. Frege's achievement in the field of logic were so important, that they radiated into the domain of philosophy and influenced the development of mathematical logic decisively. (shrink)

El empleo por parte del escepticismo pirrónico de un esquema argumentativo basado en la noción de contradicción nos induce a pensar que dicha noción juega un papel importante entre los puntos de partida básicos de su filosofía. Por ello, se muestra como imprescindible emprender un análisis pormenorizado de las implicaciones que conlleva la presencia de esta noción en el argumento escéptico clásico para determinar la presencia de implicaciones derivadas del principio de no-contradicción y su compatibilidad con la posición filosófica propia (...) de esta corriente helenística. (shrink)

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

More and more frequently, the organisation of design fits into a project organisation where different designers have to cooperate with flexibility and reactivity. In order to help these cooperative design processes, we have to respond to new types of needs: a relatively unformalised coordination that requires permanent mutual adjustment, the fact that members of the team are geographically distant, the difficulty of building a shared reference via design documents and technical and organisational decisions that structure the project. In order to (...) provide computer support for these needs, asynchronous Group Ware is often recommended. However, the efficiency of these tools depends on the models that structure the work processes and the knowledge exchanged. In this paper, we present ABRICo, a new Design Rationale formalism that permits the recording of cooperative decision-making processes in complex design situations. We describe the formalism and explain how we intend to use it to specify cooperative design tools usable via an Intranet for computing projects. (shrink)

The philosophical doctrine of Anaxarchus of Abdera is nowadays not very well known. This notwithstanding, Anaxarchus was a character of key importance in the development of Hellenistic philosophy. His ethics, in particular, is one of the first theories in stating that the ultimate goal of life is happiness. Moreover, he suggests that the only way to reach that goal is _adiaphoria_, i.e. ‘indifference’. However, the sceptic interpretation of _adiaphoria_ as denial of the criterion of truth will turn Anaxarchus into a (...) figure not related to sceptic thought, from the point of view of the sceptic philosophers themselves. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the way how Hellenistic and Roman tradition construed the role of Anaxarchus’ _eudaimonia_ and the place of this author in the development of thought in this period. (shrink)

This chapter analyses how natural contingency refers both to the planning and the execution aspects of divine providence. For doing so, Silva contrasts the perspectives of some current trends within science and religion circles to find natural causal gaps in the created order to allow for God’s providence, with a typically Thomist approach within classical theistic circles. Silva suggests that classical theism offers a better understanding of the relation between natural contingency and divine providence than those who search for scientific (...) spaces for God to guide creation towards its goals. In regards to the planning, Silva argues that God’s providence includes in its planning the achieving of the divine goals even by means of created, contingent in their action, natural things causing indeterministically. God’s goals include those contingent effects because they are ordered to new good things in creation. This is the Thomist idea to express that God, through not intended effects (be it contingent or even evil events), can bring about new good things to creation. In regards to the execution of that planning, Silva argues first that, contrary to some positions that see God acting in the a-causal indeterministic spaces provided by contemporary science, a causal understanding of indeterminism that distinguishes between causation and determinism, allows for truly contingent happenings within the created natural world. Then Silva shows how, by complementing these ideas with the doctrine of primary and secondary causation, at least as understood by Thomas Aquinas, one may offer an explanation of how God’s providence is involved in the whole of creation. Thus, even by means of created, indeterministic natural causes (that can be described as deficient instruments), God achieves his goals and intentions by causing them to cause indeterministically. (shrink)

There has recently been some literature on the properties of a Health-Related Social Welfare Function (HRSWF). The aim of this article is to contribute to the analysis of the different properties of a HRSWF, paying particular attention to the monotonicity principle. For monotonicity to be fulfilled, any increase in individual health—other things equal—should result in an increase in social welfare. We elicit public preferences concerning trade-offs between the total level of health (concern for efficiency) and its distribution (concern for equality), (...) under different hypothetical scenarios through face-to-face interviews. Of key interests are: the distinction between non-monotonic preferences and Rawlsian preferences; symmetry of HRSWF; and the extent of inequality neutral preferences. The results indicate strong support for non-monotonic preferences, over Rawlsian preferences. Furthermore, the majority of those surveyed had preferences that were consistent with a symmetric and inequality averse HRSWF. (shrink)

I mind by transcendental philosophy the pure inquiry of the ultimate realities also called transcendental realities . The whole inquiry is divided in two parts. The first one is dedicated to study the inconditional transcendentals, and the second one to study the conditional transcendentals. Both parts are preceded by one introduction, whose content constitutes the present paper.

Legaz Lacamba, L. José Ignacio de Alcorta, filósofo de nuestro tiempo.--Semblanza del profesor Alcorta.--Rodríguez Resina, A. El realismo trascendental, introducción a la filosofía de J. I. de Alcorta.

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

La lengua árabe, además del singular, dual y plural (regular y fracto), incluye lo que podría denominarse el cuarto número: el plural de pequeño número o paucal (jam'u l-qilla), cuidadosamente estudiado por Sibawayhi. Este artículo pretende analizar las páginas dedicadas a esta cuestión por el más importante de los gramáticos árabes y ofrecer algunas claves para el seguimiento diacrónico del fenómeno del plural de pequeño número, un rasgo arcaico en vías de extinción ya desde la época de Sibawayhi. ABSTRACT Arabic (...) language shows, besides singular, dual and plural (broken and regular), something that could be described as the fourth number: the plural of small number or plural of paucity (jam'u l-qilla), thoroughly studied by Sibawayhi. This article analyzes the pages dedicated to this question by the most important Arab grammarian, offering also some keys for the diachronic understanding of the plural of paucity, which is viewed here as an archaic feature falling finto disuse already at Sibawayhi's time. (shrink)

The given work analyses several aspects of the concept te’cnh in Plato´s philosophy. At the same time, it deals with his attempt of finding a type of behaviour which counts on the same features as arts and science, in other words, a behaviour based on rational principles that will enable us to act accurately and according to our principles. He followed the path of Socrates in the process of the search for such behaviour. The sophists were proud of teaching a (...) certain political science that, to Plato, is an exclusive property of the philosopher who is acquainted with the intelligible forms and makes use of the right calculation and measure. According to him, these two would be the undeniable components of what we may define as the good and happy life of an individual. (shrink)

Polo is a good master, more preocupied in finding the truth than in being understood by the students. His knowledge is patient; his attention concentrated. He sustains the congruence between the level of the cognitive method that he employs and the topics he investigates. He stands out in three qualities: the audacity in his research, the coexistence with the truth, and the universal overture to wisdom.

The debate over the improvement of moral capacity or moral enhancement through pharmacology has gained momentum in the last decade as a result of advances in neuroscience. These advances have led to the discovery and allowed the alteration of patterns of human behavior, and have permitted direct interventions on the neuronal structure of behavior. In recent years, this analysis has deepened regarding the anthropological foundations of morality and the reasons that would justify the acceptance or rejection of such technology. We (...) present a review of proposals for pharmacological interventions directed directly towards moral enhancement. In addition, we identify the ethical dilemmas that such interventions may generate, as well as the moral assessment of the authors of these studies. There is a moderate consensus on the risks of any intervention on the intimate structure of the human condition, its autonomy and identity, but there are large differences in explaining the reasons for this concern and especially in justifying such interventions. These findings show that it is necessary to investigate the moral assessment of authors and the ethical dimension within the field of pharmacology in order to identify future trends. (shrink)

George Santayana (1863-1952) es uno de los creadores de la tradición filosófica norteamericana. Santayana nació en Madrid y mantuvo siempre su nacionalidad española, fue profesor en Harvard. Filósofo heterodoxo, crítico de su tiempo, maestro de ironía, defensor de la tradición mediterránea y radical crítico del mundo anglosajón, tiene una importante y variada obra escrita. Este ensayo nos presenta e introduce en su pensamiento.