One of Žižek’s main features is ambivalence and in this book he also remains rather pessimistic. The pandemic will not change society for the better, Žižek claims. The only thing that seems clear is that the virus will destroy the foundations of our lives bringing about a considerable amount of damage and suffering. As he also points out right from the outset, moreover, the epidemic will not make us any wiser. Through this blend of ambivalence and pessimism, Žižek develops a (...) view, it seems to me, that can be compared to, and contrasted with the production by Basque Films The Platform --- a Netflix blockbuster dystopia mixing suspense, science fiction and horror, in which director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia also conveys a dark and skeptikal message: as a species, human beings are as selfish as we are greedy. (shrink)

Th is discussion review appeals to a minimal militant comradeship across struggles. Theory is also a struggle, and solidarity is always key. It agrees with Slavoj Žižek’s main argument: the critique of Eurocentrism cannot sustain itself without acknowledging the positive influence of the Enlightenment radical tradition. It also underlines that particular emancipatory projects set against universalism fail to properly problematise political subjectivity. This is not to coalesce with certain Western/European metropolitan intellectual and political inclinations, not least in the Left, particularly (...) prone to lay down the correct and rightful terms of anybody else’s struggles. Various examples from different historic and contemporary contexts illustrate and clarify this point. In the process, some hints are also given on possible theoretical and political reconciliations between Decolonial Theory and the Idea of Communism or between Žižek’s “possibilism” and Alain Badiou’s politics of the impossibl e. (shrink)

La identidad personal se construye colectivamente. Somos en la medida en que somos con otros. En este sentido, la afirmación de un "nosotros" diferenciado es consustancial al desarrollo de la identidad. La pertenencia a una comunidad nacional y la inserción en una sociedad de productores-consumidores, ambas directamente relacionadas, han sido las vías para la construcción de la identidad moderna. Pero ambas han entrado hoy en crisis y son, crecientemente, fuente de exclusión más que de integración. El reto que se nos (...) plantea es el de configurar, sobre bases nuevas, un nuevo sentido de comunidad que permita la universalización de unas identidades individuales y colectivas diversas, pero compartiendo el espacio de unos mismos derechos fundamentales. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to give a mathematical account of an argument of David Lewis in Parts of Classes in defense of universalism in mereology. Specifically, we study how to extend models of core mereology (following Achille Varzi’s terminology) to models in which every collection of parts can be composed into another part. We focus on the two main definitions for mereological compositions and show that any model can be extended to satisfy universalism. We explore which are the (...) “most economical” ways of extending models under various conditions. Remarkably, we show that if the principle of strong supplementation is assumed, there is a unique mereological completion, up to isomorphism. (shrink)

Partiendo de las consignas de la hermenéutica contemporánea, este texto pretende desentrañar algunas claves para una hermenéutica de las artes visuales in itinere. Para ello se introduce en las nociones de método (Eugenio Trías), pauta inmanente de acción (Upanishads), disposición afectiva, círculo estético-hermenéutico y espiral estético-hermenéutica. Se desprenden dos hipótesis: el cuestionamiento sobre en qué medida la pauta paradigmática y ejemplar que rige en un arte visual in itinere es proporcional al despliegue de la pauta inmanente de acción del artista (...) ejecutor; y la defensa de que el mérito estético en estas artes pasa por que en su dinámica se lleve a cumplido término la espiral estético-hermenéutica. (shrink)

Rare neuromuscular diseases are a group of pathologies characterized by a progressive loss of muscular strength, atrophy, fatigue, and other muscle-related symptoms, which affect quality of life levels. The low prevalence, high geographical dispersion and disability of these individuals involve difficulties in accessing health and social care services. Teleassistance is presented as a useful tool to perform psychosocial interventions in these situations. The main aim of this research is to assess the effects of a teleassistance psychosocial program on the QoL (...) levels of people with RNMDs who have different levels of disability. A sample of 73 participants was divided into an experimental group, which participated in the intervention, and a control wait list group. QoL was evaluated through the SIP and the SF-36, and disability through the WHO-DAS II. The participants with a moderate to severe level of disability were those who most benefited from the intervention. The results also revealed that the psychosocial teleassistance program was suitable to improve physical and psychosocial aspects of people suffering from a rare neuromuscular disease with a moderate level of disability, but just psychosocial aspects in those with a severe level of disability. (shrink)

Este artículo explora la metacomunicación inherente al juego deportivo. Comienza por la definición de deporte como juego más metalenguaje: el deporte es un metajuego, se fundamenta en la metacomunicación que surge en torno al juego originario. Siguiendo la perspectiva de Hans-Georg Gadamer se aborda la idea de alteridad en el juego humano: siempre es necesario un otro para jugar, ya sea otra persona, el rozamiento del aire o el desnivel del terreno. Se analizan los distintos niveles metacomunicativos que emergen en (...) el juego deportivo, estableciendo una analogía entre el deporte y las artes in itinere (en movimiento, escénicas) y enfatizando, en ambos casos, su carácter agonal. Finalmente, se introduce la noción de espiral estético-hermenéutica que recoge la dinámica interna tanto del hecho deportivo como del artístico. (shrink)

#################################################################################################### #################################################################################################### #######################################################.

Having emerged as an important concept in the organizational field, entrepreneurial orientation has also become a key idea in the context of education. Indeed, entrepreneurial education is now one of the common objectives for education and training systems in the European Union. Despite its importance, however, there is a scarcity of valid and reliable measures for assessing entrepreneurial orientation in students. The present study aimed to address this by developing and examining the psychometric properties of the Entrepreneurial Orientation Scale (EOS). (...) A second objective is to study the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and gender, self-efficacy, and personal initiative. The sample comprised 411 vocational training students (50.36% male, 49.64% female). The final version of the instrument comprised 32 items assessing six dimensions: innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, competitiveness, achievement orientation, and learning orientation. The EOS showed good psychometric properties and its dimensions demonstrated concurrent relationships with self-efficacy and personal initiative. The EOS may be used to measure entrepreneurial orientation in the educational context and to evaluate interventions designed to promote an entrepreneurial spirit in schools, colleges, and universities. (shrink)

This paper analyses “A Message to America,” the 2014 ISIS video that presents the beheading of American photojournalist James Foley. This short film served as a model for the more than 200 graphically violent videos posted online by the terrorist group before the fall of the caliphate in 2019. The main objective of this research is to question the truth-value of violent ISIS videos and to advocate a critical approach to them. To this end, four key issues need to be (...) explored: the quality of the videos; their status as art, documentary, or propaganda; their target audiences; and the purpose of the message being conveyed to each of those audiences. To deconstruct the mechanisms employed by the constructed fallacy of this video and critically expose its literal and metaphorical meaning, we use textual analysis, the methodological tool developed in Greimasian semiotics. The results reveal a carefully planned text with a clearly recognizable narrative structure (crime and punishment). This video is a propaganda documentary that makes use of the tools of fiction to stage a real event: Foley dies, but his death is not shown on camera; it is only staged. Targeting two different audiences, an implicit Muslim viewer, and an explicit Western viewer, the text can be interpreted as a crossing of gazes between East and West. (shrink)

O livro, Jesus: aproximação histórica, do teólogo José Antonio Pagola veio enriquecer a teologia e, de forma especial, a cristologia. Trata-se de uma obra que pretende apresentar Jesus de forma que seja conhecido e amado. A obra é escrita por uma pessoa de fé, situada no seio da Igreja católica, obra de um cristão, presbítero, que tem o ardente desejo de comunicar a pessoa de Jesus.