This is the first book-length study of Descartes's metaphysics to place it in its immediate historical context, the Late Scholastic philosophy of thinkers such as Suárez against which Descartes reacted. Jorge Secada views Cartesian philosophy as an 'essentialist' reply to the 'existentialism' of the School, and his discussion includes careful analyses and original interpretations of such central Cartesian themes as the role of scepticism, intentionality and the doctrine of the material falsity of ideas, universals and the relation between sense (...) and understanding, causation and the proofs of the existence of God, the theory of substance, and the dualism of mind and matter. His study offers a picture of Descartes's metaphysics that is both novel and philosophically illuminating. (shrink)

SCHVARZER: “To visualize the near future in Argentina, it is necessary to consider some structural changes that have taken place during the last decade. First, important changes have taken place in the pampas' agricultural production in the last decade. After thirty years of stagnation, production took a formidable leap in excess of 24 to 40 million tons. This almost doubled Argentina's real export capacity. This leap might be seen as the result of the pampa-landowners managerial skills, but in reality is (...) the consequence of a series of public policies and the effect of technological change which not only triggered this increase but showed, moreover, that agricultural production can grow even more: the production of cereals can be increased 50%, and this implies an almost 75% increase in Argentina's exports. (shrink)

En mayo de 2003 se celebró la duodécima edición de las «Conferencias Aranguren». Jorge Semprún dictó tres conferencias magistrales tituladas «Kant y la mochila del maquis», «El mal radical y las letrinas de Buchenwald» y «Literatura y memoria del mal: de Sartre a Paul Ricoeur», agrupadas todas ellas bajo el título genérico de Memoria del mal. El hilo conductor de las tres intervenciones fue la experiencia de Semprún como deportado político en el campo de concentración de Buchenwald, tan cercano (...) al Weimar de Schiller y Goethe. Allí pudo experimentar el mal radical, pero también la fraternidad, a través de los grupos de resistencia antifascista que coordinaban en el campo los distintos grupos políticos clandestinos. Esta experiencia le sirvió para repasar las lecturas filosóficas que había realizado en su época de estudiante de Filosofía en la Sorbona, así como las que le interesaron una vez terminada la guerra. De esta forma, Semprún hizo un recorrido por distintos autores argumentando la relación de los mismos con el problema del mal. (shrink)

O objetivo do artigo é analisar, contextualmente, a fórmula de Nietzsche “[...] que o valor da vida não pode ser estimado” no capítulo “O problema de Sócrates” d’O Crepúsculo dos Ídolos. Trata-se de mostrar a trajetória teórica que Nietzsche opera, deslocando o horizonte teórico da tradição do ‘consensus sapientium’ – que supostamente teria condi- ções de estimar o valor da vida a partir de uma posição externa à vida mesma –, a fim de situar no horizonte que denominamos de sintomático-semiológico. (...) Esse deslocamento ocorre na medida em que Nietzsche se serve da figura de Sócrates como uma semiótica para exprimir seu próprio pensamento. (shrink)

Labor market deregulation has been at the core of the changes in the political economy during the last decades. The pervasive neoliberal wisdom has depoliticized the nature and effects of this process, a bias that has also affected the scholarship, which often overlooks its power dimension. This article aims to explore the role of power in the labor market to offer some theoretical insights for empirical research and public debate. Departing from the worker–employer “contested exchange” at the workplace, the article (...) pivots on the concept of “decommodification” to grasp the institutional arrangements that shape this relationship at the institutional level of power. Furthermore, the article addresses the symbolic dimension of power and how epistemic reflexivity enables us to examine whether social research ideologically depicts or conceals the role of power in the study of labor relations, as illustrated by two subjects in vogue: the insiders–outsiders divide and the activation policy. The article concludes with a discussion of the normative implications of the preceding argument about freedom as nondomination for workers. (shrink)

By any standard, nonrationality is an undertheorized concept in sociology. This paper attempts to open a discussion on nonrationality by analyzing one of the most fruitful theorizations of the concept: Simmel's. Simmel developed a theory that placed nonrationality on the same plane with rationality and attributed to the former a role as fundamental as the latter's in the foundations of action, and as central as the latter's in the generation of existential meanings. The gradual eclipse of the nonrational elements of (...) life in the expanses of a modern, highly rationalized world imply, then, an impoverishment of being. I argue that Simmel's theory of the nonrational can serve as a model capable of enriching our understanding of society and of the person and can, in this sense, serve as a counterpoint to current sociological theories that emphasize the rational elements of life and conceive the person in primarily rational terms. (shrink)

1. El proceso de Atenas -- 2. El proceso de Jerusalem.

And how are the answers to these questions affected by the Black and Latino experience in the United States"-From the Preface This collection of new essays explores the relation between race and ethnicity and its social and political ...

IF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY studies ideas from the past, as is generally accepted, then historians of philosophy face a serious problem concerning their object of study for two reasons. In the first place, like all history, the history of philosophy is concerned with the past and we can never have direct empirical access to the past unless that past is close to us and we have taken part in it. In order to know the past in which we have (...) not participated we must rely on the testimony of those who had direct access to it and left records of what they witnessed. In the second place, the problem arises because the specific object that the history of philosophy studies is ideas and ideas are not things, events, or facts for which we can have direct empirical evidence even if we are contemporaneous with them. The most we can have is indirect empirical evidence. We do not perceive ideas; what we perceive are certain phenomena that suggest to us certain ideas. If I ask you, for example, "Do you approve of what the President did?" and you frown in return, I conclude that you do not. But it is altogether possible that you do in fact approve of the President's action, although you wish me to think that you do not and thus mislead me by making the frown. My conclusion that you do not, then, can be taken only as an interpretation of what you are thinking based on certain empirical evidence that is only indirectly related to what you think. Thus the study of the history of philosophy is very difficult, more difficult than the study of the type of history that relies on events for which there can be direct empirical evidence; for not only is direct access to the past impossible for historians of philosophy from the present, but even if they had it they would not have direct access to the ideas which are supposed to be the object of their study. (shrink)

En La función del dogma en la investigación científica (1979), Thomas Kuhn enfatiza la necesidad de que las ciencias maduras formen a sus recursos humanos propiciando una fuerte adhesión a los fundamentos ontológicos y epistemológicos que sustentan dicha concepción paradigmática. Esta tesis, que de algún modo quita perspectiva a las y los científicos, deja abierta la cuestión de cómo tan fuerte adhesión dogmática permite la crítica y a la postre la revolución científica. En “Ciencia normal, dogmatismo y progreso” (2023), Pablo (...) Melogno revisa críticamente esta propuesta kuhniana y la de una serie de analistas de su obra. Concluye que la propuesta de Kuhn es atinada por cuanto contempla cómo la tensión conservación-crítica permite en ciertas circunstancias sostener la fuerte adhesión incorporada, y en otras circunstancias ejercer una crítica informada ante una abrumadora acumulación de anomalías. En este artículo, sugiero que no son solo factores de índole racional los que llevan a un colectivo a decidir sobre la continuidad o el cambio paradigmático, sino que también inciden factores de tipo ideológico y cultural, frecuentemente naturalizados y difíciles de objetivar. (shrink)

INDIVIDUALITY has given philosophers considerable trouble. There are conflicting views as to how to understand it and even as to its intelligibility in spite of what appears to be its fundamental character in our experience. For, on the one hand, we seem to experience the world in terms of individuals, but when we try to explain what their individuality is we run into difficulties. Indeed, even a view which at first sight appears quite innocuous, defining individuality formally as a feature (...) which characterizes individuals as individuals, is strongly rejected by many. They argue that individuality cannot be a feature at all in the strict sense of the word, since its being a feature would presuppose that something else could share on it or have it, and that seems to contradict the very notion of individuality. At any rate, this is of no concern to us presently since it is an issue which pertains to the ontological status of individuality rather than its intension. It suffices to point out for the moment that there is ample disagreement concerning the proper understanding of individuality. (shrink)

The current economic crisis, unsustainable growth, and financial scandals invite reflection on the role of universities in professional training, particularly those who have to manage businesses. This study analyzes the main factors that might determine the extent to which Spanish organizational management educators use corporate social responsibility (CSR) or business ethics stand-alone subjects to equip students with alternative views on business. A web content analysis and non-parametric mean comparison statistics of the curricula of undergraduate degrees in all universities in Spain (...) were conducted. The main conclusion of this paper is related to the Bologna effect in Spanish universities. Comparing our results with prior research in this matter, it is demonstrated that the main reason that explains the increase of CSR and ethical education in Spain is the Bologna process and its adaptation to the European Higher Education Area. Also, private universities in Spain are more likely to require an ethics course than public universities. Other factors, such as size, political orientation, or related to CSR chairs are not statistically explanatory of CSR and ethical education. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical approach to the theory of autopoiesis in order to see how it challenges mainstream Darwinism. In the first part of the paper, I characterize Darwinism from the concepts of natural selection, heredity, reproduction, and evolution. This characterization is absolutely schematic, and I hope not controversial at all, since my aim is to provide a general background for the discussion of the rest of the paper. The second part presents the main (...) tenets of the theory of autopoiesis, also paying special attention to the concepts of natural selection, heredity, reproduction, and evolution. The third and final part considers some criticisms that have been directed against the theory and suggests some new ones. As I said, my intention is to offer a critical approach, so that I pretend to assess neither autopoiesis nor Darwinism. The assessment, it seems to me, would be a matter of scientific debate—not properly of philosophy. Therefore, given that my approach attempts to be a conceptual clarification, my contribution to the contemporary debate about Darwinism is twofold. On the one hand, I show that conceptually autopoiesis constitutes an important challenge to Darwinism, but on the other, I also show that some fundamental aspects of the theory appear to be both epistemologically and empirically problematic, which perhaps helps to understand why autopoiesis is not widely accepted in mainstream Darwinism. (shrink)

Es necesario distinguir entre útil, cosa y obra de arte. Lo que nos circunda en la óptica de un "para" apunta al conjunto de los útiles. La cosa es aquello de lo que se habla. Aunque las relaciones entre útil y cosa son estrechas, es posible hablar de las cosas que nos circundan desde perspectivas que no se reducen a la óptica del "para". Una cosa no se reduce a ser para algo. Una obra tiene un tipo de presencia singular; (...) ella no está ahí sino para aquellos que, por su lado, están expresamente abiertos a ella. El origen de la obra de arte es la verdad. Ésta no tiene que entenderse como la adecuación de lo que nosotros decimos a lo que es en realidad. Heidegger invita a escuchar el nombre griego de la verdad –alétheia. Ἀλήθεια [alétheia] hace reparar en el alfa privativa y el tema que deriva del verbo λανθάνω [lantháno]: escapar. (shrink)

Texto presentado en el Congreso Internacional “Recepciones de Ortega y Gasset en Chile” celebrado en el Centro Cultural de España en Santiago durante los días 30 y 31 de mayo de 2018, en Santiago de Chile. Forma parte de la compilación recogida en número especial de la Revista de Filosofía Otrosiglo, en junio del 2023.

HISPANIC PHILOSOPHY. The notion of Hispanic philosophy is a useful one for trying to understand certain historical phenomena related to the philosophy developed in the Iberian peninsula, the Iberian colonies in the New World, and the countries that those colonies eventually came to form. It is useful for two reasons. First, it focuses attention on the close relations among the philosophers in these geographical areas; and second, other historical denominations and categorizations do not do justice to such relations. This becomes (...) clear when one examines the standard general categorizations according to which the philosophical thought of the mentioned geographical areas is divided and studied: Spanish philosophy, Portuguese philosophy, Catalan philosophy, Latin American philosophy, Spanish-American philosophy, and Ibero-American philosophy. (shrink)

The article aims at describing the Spanish welfare state and assessing its problems and perspectives. The description of its characteristics, based on a comparison with European countries, makes it possible to identify patterns similar to those of other Southern welfare states, with an important subsidiarity with regard to the family and an orientation towards the protection of the older population. Regarding the identification of problems, two technical problems are highlighted in the article. First, those related to sensitivity to economic crises, (...) which specifically translates into a high level of structural unemployment. And, second, those linked to the very accelerated demographic changes, which cause an aging of the population that aggravates the difficulties of financing the system. Finally, the article pays attention to several political and design problems of the welfare state in Spain. Political polarization and clientelism make it difficult to make consensual decisions aimed at giving continuity and legitimacy to the welfare state. The risks linked to a ‘patchwork design’ characterized by complexity and lack of coherence in the catalog of services are also pointed out. (shrink)

Although most predicates may be truthfully predicated of only some beings, there are others that seem to apply to every being. The latter, including being itself, were known as the transcendentals in the Middle Ages and gave rise to the much disputed doctrine of the transcendentals. This article explores the main tenets of the doctrine and the difficulties that they face, the reasons why scholastic authors were interested in these issues, and the origins of the doctrine.

Much research into morphogenesis focuses on discovering mechanisms and models able to generate or describe the forms we can observe in nature. These studies all provide insights, even though they do not directly touch upon what is the focus of this article: the understanding of form. To this end a conceptual scheme based on the following ideas is proposed: understanding , emerging , persisting , selection , and the relation concerning complexity versus uncertainty , in particular, the relation between form (...) and function. This article is thus a contribution to both the epistemology and the ontology of nature and, in particular, of the living world. (shrink)

Las relaciones entre el sentido común -como categoría recurrente en la historia del pensamiento- y el ingenio -con sus relaciones tal y como plantea Vico- constituyen la estructura de la propuesta del autor.The paper is organised around the relationship between common sens -as a recurrent category in the history of thought- and ingenuity -with it's relationships, as they are considered by Vico-.

The present work aims to develop, very briefly, some reflections on eugenics, as a method of social selectivity, and its relationship with liberalism in current societies. To this end, at first I presented the presence of eugenics sinc Antiquity, its intimate relationship with genetics, as well as the process of instrumentalization of science, externalized in the criticism of some epistemologists. In the second moment we seek to present the investigation regarding the ethical problems arising from research directed to biogenetics from (...) the perspective of the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, for whom such research may, in the very near future, begin to be regulated by a market logic, bringing with it This has profound consequences for the normative self-undestanding of the individual, whose life project becomes guided by the subjective preferences of third parties. (shrink)

The present work, elaborated from a theoretical, bibliographical and documentary character, has for objective to develop some theoretical boardings regarding the concept of tolerance of a philosophical point of view, during a historical context that if initiates in the thought of John Locke, in the Modern Age, the scope of the religious wars, when such concept acquires a more rigorous and critical character, going until the contemporaneidade, period where the tolerance starts to acquire a paper of prominence for the understanding (...) of the systems politicians and the societies marked for one raised degree of complexity and pluralism. Authors as Stuart Mill, Bobbio, Adorno and Habermas, among others, present significant contributions from its reflections and questionings for the studies of this thematic one as well as for the confrontation of the patologias that afflict the contemporaneidade. More recently, the fact of the tolerance to have if transformed into consensus and normative landmark, through the elaboration and approval of the World-wide Declaration of the Principles of the Tolerance, in the year of 1995, for the ONU, reflects the importance and the central paper that the tolerance exerts today in the search of the peace and the construction of a world more just and human being. (shrink)

Con ocasión de la publicación de la exhortación Evangelii Gaudium, y a los 50 años de la promulgación del decreto Unitatis redintegratio, textos ambos que proponen el principio de “jerarquía de verdades”, el autor analiza la historia de este principio y la intención de los padres conciliares al incorporarlo al decreto conciliar sobre el ecumenismo. En un segundo momento, ofrece elementos relativos a la interpretación teológica y magisterial de la “jerarquía de verdades” en el ámbito de la Iglesia católica. Luego, (...) teniendo en cuenta que el principio se indicaba para los diálogos teológicos interconfesionales, el autor presenta algunos datos relativos a su acogida por parte de teólogos protestantes, el recurso al mismo en los diálogos teológicos oficiales, y la única explicación ecuménica presente en el documento de estudio publicado por el Grupo Mixto de Trabajo entre el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias y la Iglesia católica. Como modo de verificación de la aplicabilidad de la “jerarquía de verdades”, se recogen algunos elementos relativos a la puesta en práctica del mismo por el Groupe des Dombes en su documento sobre la teología mariana. Finalmente, y a modo de conclusión, regresando a la propuesta de Evangelii Gaudium, el autor avanza algunas reflexiones ante la posible aplicación de la “jerarquía de verdades” en el ámbito de la enseñanza moral de la Iglesia. (shrink)

During replication, the topology of DNA changes continuously in response to well‐known activities of DNA helicases, polymerases, and topoisomerases. However, replisomes do not always progress at a constant speed and can slow‐down and even stall at precise sites. The way these changes in the rate of replisome progression affect DNA topology is not yet well understood. The interplay of DNA topology and replication in several cases where progression of replication forks reacts differently to changes in DNA topology ahead is discussed (...) here. It is proposed, there are at least two types of replication fork barriers: those that behave also as topological barriers and those that do not. Two‐Dimensional (2D) agarose gel electrophoresis is the method of choice to distinguish between these two different types of replication fork barriers. (shrink)