In this paper we seek to take notice of the evolution and continuity of Jan Patočka’s phenomenology on the topic of the world and human existence’s relationship with it. We believe that this problem underlies and stimulates Patočka’s whole phenomenological research and we think that it is a key element to understand the ensemble of his thought.

In this thesis, I propose and defend a theory according to which committing oneself to knowing the proposition expressed counts as an assertion of that proposition. A consequence of this view is the knowledge account of assertion, according to which one asserts that p correctly only if one knows that p. In support of this approach, I offer a strategy of identifying an assertion’s “normative consequences”, types of act that normally take place as a result of one’s making an assertion (...) incorrectly. I outline two such phenomena: retraction and disavowal of knowledge. In continuation, I put the theory to test and critically examine four sets of objections against it, arguing that it can convincingly defuse them. Finally, I discuss two related issues: I maintain that by performing “aesthetic assertions” one also normally performs a non-assertoric speech act of recommendation, and argue for the possibility of “non-linguistic assertions”, whose content is expressed by gestures in appropriate contexts. (shrink)

This article examines the contributions made towards eugenic thought in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by Havelock Ellis . Ellis was a significant social reformer who worked on the problems of sexuality from a scientific–naturalist secular perspective. In the later phases of his work, after he had completed much of his writing on sexuality, Ellis concentrated on issues of feminism and eugenics—problems he thought were interlinked. In this paper, I integrate his ideas about these subjects, and consider the (...) ways in which Ellis and other liberal social reformers created a ‘eugenic subject’ in order to frame their arguments about social problems. (shrink)

Collective intentionality is of central importance in social ontology. In this paper, we will discuss its role in Searle’s understanding of social ontology and institutional reality. The first section of the paper will reconstruct Searle’s understanding of social ontology and his identification of necessary elements for constructing institutional reality. In this section, we will discuss the notions of imposition of function, of collective intentionality, and of constitutional rule. The second section will critically re-examine the notion of collective intentionality. The third (...) section will contrast Searle’s understanding of institutional reality with the one based on evolutionary game theory. Taking into account that Searle describes his position as naturalistic, the main task of this section will be to examine to what extent the alternative theory, also naturalistic in its character, can address certain problems, which remain insolvable in the framework of Searle’s theory. (shrink)

Intense interest has long been shown in the nature of humankind. Are we the products of genes? Are we the products of culture? Or are we something in between? The Marxist position, stressing the dominant significance of social methods for studying humans, is sketched. Then, a number of Western, biologically influenced views are discussed and criticised. Although there are important insights in the writings of the holders of these views, ultimately they produce only a semiscience.

The article examines the question posed in the title, which implies the consideration of sculpture as a method of sense making by plastic means, revealing the truth of being in spatial form. The study of the phenomenological perspective of this method is built upon I. Kant’s conception of art as a free play of genius, based on reason. The apparent contradiction between the spontaneity of the subjective assumption of an image, which implies the impossibility of its being deduced, and its (...) rationality, assuming an extra-subjective universalism of meaning, is resolved based on the F. Schelling’s doctrine of creation as “a pure being who escapes to any thought” (unvordenkliche) act of the subject positing something in the conceptual horizon of the logical possibilities of its existence uncertainty. The act of vivid imagination and the coherent process of creating art work presupposes not only the subjective arbitrary will of the artist, but also the “intelligence of vision,” connecting the intentional act constituting the image and the counter-intentional act, in which the image created manifests its own teleology, clarifying and elaborating the author’s idea. The sculptor’s consciousness acts as a kind of tuning fork, capable of capturing the accuracy of the sound of the image, its harmony with aesthetic sensibility. At the same time, the expressiveness of the art work, its beauty is the non-verbal aspect of meaning, capable of signifying and expressing the author’s vision of the ideological depth of the chosen theme, which allows the sculptor to create original philosophical parables that heuristically complement verbal forms of thought. These provisions are considered in the context of the sculptural series “Masque Theatre” created by Alexander Apollonov, whose plastic images show various scenarios and complex drama of the relationship between the subject and his personal objectifications, manifested in masks-personalities. (shrink)

Este trabajo, apoyándose en el caso emblemático del contexto italiano, muestra cómo la cultura jurídica europea de los últimos años ha pasado en gran parte de una cultura basada en normas escritas-positivas (rule-based) a una cultura jurisdiccional caracterizada por la creación de nuevas situaciones de protección (right-based). Esta transformación se habría traducido en una preferencia por la razón práctica de una jurisprudencia suplente y, en ocasiones, enfrentada al legislador a través de decisiones productoras de nuevos derechos sin que en paralelo (...) haya un control democrático serio. Esa labor propone considerar una nueva cultura jurídica de base socrática para llevar al centro de la experiencia jurídica y, en particular, del fenómeno procesal el enfoque acusatorio, que permita conciliar democráticamente las premisas normativas generales adoptadas por las partes, garantizando al mismo tiempo la racionalidad y sistematicidad de los pronunciamientos jurisprudenciales. (shrink)

En este artículo, se analiza la expansión en el número de novelas publicadas en Costa Rica entre 1990 y 2024. Tal proceso, favorecido por el crecimiento de la actividad editorial privada, dependió de la capacidad económica de los autores (hombres más que mujeres) para financiar sus obras. A partir del siglo XXI, la autopublicación fue reforzada por el surgimiento de plataformas donde es posible publicar de manera gratuita, como la de Amazon. Dado que esta novelística no respondió a una demanda (...) efectiva de diversas audiencias de lectores, tuvo un alcance limitado: por lo general, las personas solo publicaron una novela, y de la mayoría de los textos, se publicó solo una edición. (shrink)

The paper analyzes the personalist view of Kant’s thought in general and the personalist criticism of Kant’s understanding of human dignity and natural law. It is pointed out the way in which the results of that criticism were realized as a personalist concept of human dignity, which was also reflected in the fundamental legal acts on human rights. Concluding considerations are presented in the light of contemporary discussions of the reception of the origin of the legal foundation of human dignity.

Una de las problemáticas que acompañan a los derechos económicos, sociales y culturales en su desarrollo y aplicación, es la indeterminación de su contenido esencial en los textos constitucionales. En este supuesto normativo se ubica el derecho a la salud en México. Su formulación lingüística en nuestro orden constitucional está expuesta de forma general, lo cual produce un problema de vaguedad al momento de hacerlo exigible ante las instituciones encargadas de protegerlo. Este texto plantea la necesidad de la especificación y (...) comprensión del núcleo esencial que configura el derecho a la salud. Esta problemática de la textura abierta del derecho a la salud se ha ido solventando gradualmente mediante la formulación y adopción de precedentes por parte del Poder Judicial de la Federación. La evolución del derecho a la salud y de su contenido se observa en las sentencias en materia de atención médica, de protección contra riesgos sanitarios y de acciones de salud pública, que en su conjunto reflejan una serie de líneas jurisprudenciales del derecho a la salud en México. (shrink)

This study analyzes the adoption and performance implications of two certified management standards in Mexico. Basing our predictions on strategic balance theory we find that those firms seeking for higher levels of differentiation or legitimacy show inferior environmental performance that firms demonstrating higher strategic balance.

Maurice Blondel, conocido como el autor de L’Action (1893) ha ejercido una gran influencia en el horizonte de la filosofía moderna. Es así como, desde una fenomenología integral y una hermenéutica de la vida, se puede establecer una “metafísica de la caridad” la cual me propongo someter a consideración. Desde la acción, esta metafísica viene caracterizada con estas palabras: “el ser es amor, por tanto, si no se ama no se conoce nada”. Para Blondel el ser es un evento, un (...) continuo devenir, no un devenir cualquiera o neutro, sino un desplegarse, un movimiento hacia el bien siempre más grande. El hombre, en el deseo ilimitado, descubre la trascendencia del querer humano y su referencia a algo distinto del propio querer. El deseo humano es deseo de infinito. (shrink)

This paper clarifies some of the contested ideas put forward by John Stuart Mill by analyzing the reasons and arguments Mill used to support them and demonstrating how these ideas and arguments supporting them are connected into a coherent system. Mill’s theory is placed in wider explanatory framework of democratic legitimacy developed by Thomas Christiano, and is portrayed as a typical example of democratic instrumentalism—a monistic position that focuses on the outcomes and results of a decision-making process. Following this move, (...) the focus is shifted on the understanding of political equality in Mill’s political thought. I claim that, contrary to some contemporary interpretations, Mill’s theory is based on a few fundamentally inegalitarian ideas. Finally, Mill’s view on the role of experts in democratic decision-making is analyzed and compared with contemporary theories advocating democratic expertism—Mill’s view is again portrayed as inegalitarian, both to the extent of setting political aims and creating methods for achieving these aims. (shrink)

"Ivan Illich alights on such topics as education, history, language, politics, and the church. The conversations range over the whole of Illich's published work and public career as a priest, vice-rector of a university, founder of the Centre for Intercultural Documentation in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and author of such classics as Tools for Conviviality, Medical Nemesis, and Deschooling Society.".