A presente coletânea é resultado de cooperação de pesquisadores brasileiros e portugueses, envolvidos com a docência no ensino superior e a consequente formação continuada dos professores universitários. A frequência no ensino superior é vista como uma conquista social dos ideais democráticos modernos e teria trazido novos públicos aos bancos escolares, o que tornaria esse ensino uma realidade de maneira qualitativa distinta com a qual decisores políticos, gestores, professores e estudantes devem aprender a lidar. Essas preocupações pretenderam motivar e nortear os (...) temas abordados nesta obra. (shrink)

Procura-se retraçar o percurso da filosofia de Jocelyn Benoist, partindo de seu primeiro projeto de um realismo fenomenológico em direção à elaboração de um realismo não-fenomenológico. Mostra-se o papel do tema dos limites da intencionalidade e por que este é abandonado. Mostra-se também de que modo a diferença gramatical entre o normativo e o real permite diagnosticar na fenomenologia uma confusão de categorias atingindo a noção de aparecer. Por fim, evidencia-se como essa diferença incide sobre o problema da percepção e (...) leva o autor a defender certa autonomia ontológica do sensível. (shrink)

Procura-se mostrar como aquilo a que chamam a “teoria da leitura” merleau-pontiana, calcada na meditação do impensado de outros filósofos, surge apenas no interior de seu projeto ontológico e, mais precisamente, no âmbito das conseqüências que ele traz para a compreensão da idealidade. É assim que a “história da filosofia” só ganha sentido na filosofia de Merleau-Ponty uma vez assumidas decisões filosóficas prévias como a de, para inscrever a significação no domínio do sensível, sublinhar as dimensões passivas da experiência anteriores (...) e fundantes face aos atos expressos da consciência. Tal débito da “teoria da leitura” à problemática estritamente merleaupontiana da significação assinala, por sua vez, certos limites para o reaproveitamento aparentemente neutro desse modo de leitura em outras paragens filosóficas. (shrink)

Partindo do pressuposto de que a teoria social elaborada por Habermas em muito se assemelha àquela construída por M. Weber, procedeu-se a um estudo comparativo com a intenção de identificar as formas pelas quais Weber e Habermas elaboraram o conceito de compreensão, ao mesmo tempo em que e o elegeram, cada um a seu modo, como instrumento metodológico adequado às dificuldades da produção de conhecimento científico nas Ciências Sociais. Tanto para Weber, como para Habermas, o conhecimento nas Ciências Sociais não (...) consegue escapar das influências diretas da subjetividade do cientista, como também não é capaz de se proteger das contingências histórico-culturais aos quais inevitavelmente toda ação humana está vinculada. Por isso, fundamentados em suas próprias razões, tanto Weber quanto Habermas apontam a compreensão como a forma possível de conhecimento, o que implica a renúncia às pretensões explicativas e à produção de teorias gerais de fundamentação última, que são típicas das ciências convencionais. Assuming that the social theory developed by Habermas is very similar to that constructed by M. Weber, this article performs a comparative study with the intention of identifying the ways in which Weber and Habermas built the concept of understanding. Both authors chose this concept, each in his own way, as a methodological tool appropriate to the difficulties of the production of scientific knowledge in the social sciences. As much for Weber as for Habermas, knowledge in the social sciences cannot escape the direct influences of the subjectivity of the scientist, as it also cannot protect itself from the historical and cultural contingencies to which every human action is inevitably linked. Therefore, based on their own reasons, both Weber and Habermas point to understanding as the possible form of knowledge, which implies the renunciation of the explanatory pretensions and general theories of ultimate foundations typical of the conventional sciences. (shrink)

There seems to be reluctance amongst scientists to invest some of their own time in the peer-review of manuscripts. As a result, journal editors often struggle to secure reviewers for a given manuscript in a timely manner. Here, two simple principles are proposed, which could fairly allocate the contribution of individual researchers to the peer-review process.

The current assessment of behaviors in the inventories to diagnose autism spectrum disorders (ASD) focus on observation and discrete categorizations. Behaviors require movements, yet measurements of physical movements are seldom included. Their inclusion however, could provide an objective characterization of behavior to help unveil interactions between the peripheral and the central nervous systems. Such interactions are critical for the development and maintenance of spontaneous autonomy, self-regulation and voluntary control. At present, current approaches cannot deal with the heterogeneous, dynamic and stochastic (...) nature of development. Accordingly, they leave no avenues for real-time or longitudinal assessments of change in a coping system continuously adapting and developing compensatory mechanisms. We offer a new unifying statistical framework to reveal re-afferent kinesthetic features of the individual with ASD. The new methodology is based on the non-stationary stochastic patterns of minute fluctuations (micro-movements) inherent to our natural actions. Such patterns of behavioral variability provide re-entrant sensory feedback contributing to the autonomous regulation and coordination of the motor output. From an early age, this feedback supports centrally driven volitional control and fluid, flexible transitions between intentional and spontaneous behaviors. We show that in ASD there is a disruption in the maturation of this form of proprioception. Despite this disturbance, each individual has unique adaptive compensatory capabilities that we can unveil and exploit to evoke faster and more accurate decisions. Measuring the kinesthetic re-afference in tandem with stimuli variations we can detect changes in their micro-movements indicative of a more predictive and reliable kinesthetic percept. Our methods address the heterogeneity of ASD with a personalized approach grounded in the inherent sensory-motor abilities that the individual has already developed. (shrink)

Challenges to Legal Theory offers the reader a fascinating journey though a variety of multi-disciplinary topics, ranging from law and literature, and law and religion, to legal philosophy and constitutional law. The collection reflects some of the challenges that the field of legal theory currently faces. It is compiled by a selection of international and Spanish scholars, whose essays are made available in English translation for the first time. The volume is based on a collection of essays, published in Spanish, (...) in honour of Professor José Iturmendi Morales, of Complutense University, Madrid, and brings the rich scholarship of pre-eminent Spanish scholars of law and legal theory to an international audience. (shrink)

El artículo presenta una reflexión sobre la manera en que en los últimos veinte años la promoción de un determinado tipo de solidaridad en Chile ha contribuido a la conformación de una gubernamentalidad liberal avanzada, necesaria para la instalación de un programa neoliberal. La reflexión se enmarca en los aportes teóricos de Michel Foucault y tiene por objeto empírico piezas de publicidad de promoción de la solidaridad emitidas en Chile entre los años 2009 y 2010, que han sido analizadas en (...) el contexto del proyecto Fondecyt 1090534. Se presentan tres tipos de resultados: (a) se describen los sectores sociales que se construyen como agentes de la solidaridad, (b) se reflexiona sobre las prácticas solidarias más promovidas y (c) se indaga en la forma en que se interpela a los sujetos a ser solidarios. (shrink)

The method of isonymy to estimate inbreeding is applied to the historical population of the Quebrada de Humahuaca . Data from the baptismal records of the Parochial Church of Humahuaca from 1734 to 1810 were grouped into two periods, 1734–72 and 1773–1810. The analysis was carried out twice: using the surnames exactly as they were registered; combining homonymous surnames which were pronounced or spelt in a similar way. The random and non-random components of inbreeding have been investigated through different methods. (...) There were no significant differences between the results of the two analyses, nor between the expected and observed isonymy. The value of Flies somewhere between those for offspring of first cousins once removed and second cousins once removed. There is a tendency for F and its components to increase through time. It is concluded that the high altitude aboriginal population of Humahuaca Parish must have behaved as a panmictic unit. (shrink)

The topology of DNA duplexes changes during replication and also after deproteinization in vitro. Here we describe these changes and then discuss for the first time how the distribution of superhelical stress affects the DNA topology of replication intermediates, taking into account the progression of replication forks. The high processivity of Topo IV to relax the left‐handed (+) supercoiling that transiently accumulates ahead of the forks is not essential, since DNA gyrase and swiveling of the forks cooperate with Topo IV (...) to accomplish this task in vivo. We conclude that despite Topo IV has a lower processivity to unlink the right‐handed (+) crossings of pre‐catenanes and fully replicated catenanes, this is indeed its main role in vivo. This would explain why in the absence of Topo IV replication goes‐on, but fully replicated sister duplexes remain heavily catenated. (shrink)

Financial misconduct has come into the spotlight in recent years, causing market regulators to increase the reach and severity of interventions. We show that at times the economic benefits of illicit financial activity outweigh the costs of litigation. We illustrate our argument with data from the US Securities and Exchanges Commission and a case of investment misconduct. From the neoclassical economic paradigm, which follows utilitarian thinking, it is rational to engage in misconduct. Still, the majority of professionals refrain from misconduct, (...) foregoing economic rewards. We suggest financial activity could be reimagined taking into account intrinsic and prosocial motivations. A virtue ethics framework could also be applied, linking financial behavior to the quest for moral excellence and shared flourishing. By going beyond utilitarian thinking and considering alternative models, we offer a fuller account of financial behavior and a better perspective from which to design deterrence methods. (shrink)