The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs) has emerged as a key strategy for improving quality management. This article discusses the main benefits and challenges of implementing AI in this context. A systematic review of the academic literature and relevant business reports was carried out, in order to collect and analyze empirical evidence on the application of AI in the quality management of SMEs, obtaining as results that the main benefits of the implementation of AI (...) in the quality management of SMEs include: Improved data-driven decision-making, process automation and error reduction, early detection of quality issues, customization of products and services, and resource optimization and cost reduction. On the other hand, the main challenges were: Lack of knowledge and skills in AI, high implementation costs, concerns about data security and privacy, resistance to cultural change, and integration of AI with existing systems and processes, concluding that the implementation of AI in SMB quality management offers significant benefits, but it also entails challenges that must be addressed strategically. SMEs that manage to overcome these challenges will be able to take advantage of the competitive advantages offered by AI, improving their efficiency, quality and adaptability in an increasingly dynamic business environment. (shrink)

Neste artigo apresentamos de forma breve uma teoria searliana de interpretação dos atos de fala. Mostramos através do exemplo das metáforas que, conforme proposta por Searle, a interpretação de atos de fala consistiria em reconhecer a intenção do falante. Esse processo se daria por meio do uso de regras convencionais da linguagem tanto pelo falante quanto pelo ouvinte. Contudo, as metáforas são um exemplo de que essa proposta de interpretação não é suficiente para descrever o processo pelo qual os agentes (...) interpretam atos de fala. Argumentamos que se deve acrescentar a esse processo a noção de regras estratégicas. Seguindo Peirce, duas regras estratégicas são oferecidas: o princípio da coerência e o princípio da economia. Parece também satisfatório acrescentar o princípio da não-contradição. Embora estudos empíricos não sejam definitivos sobre o tema da interpretação, em especial sobre metáforas, os resultados apontam para a aplicação de regras estratégicas na interpretação. Finalmente, é sugerido que se Searle está certo ao dizer que interpretação é o reconhecimento da intenção do falante, então a interpretação depende do uso de regras convencionais e do uso de regras estratégicas. (shrink)

Two college-age samples, one from the United States and one from Spain, were studied with mixed methods, phenomenological and traditional experimental - regarding the alleged foundational topic of `unfairness'. Participants gave their instantiations of `It's not fair!', which were deconstructed and qualitatively analyzed to find and compare the essential types of unfairness. Using traditional experimental methods, unfairness vignettes were rated by severity and quantitatively analyzed, to see whether the two cultural groups make similar or different distinctions among the concepts of (...) `unfairness', `injustice' and `misfortune'. From qualitative analyses, the fairness principles of `equity' and `equality' appeared in both groups, but `honor and dignity' violations were much more frequent in the Spanish group, as different fairness principles interacted in complex ways. From the quantitative analyses, `unfairness' was the broadest of the three concepts, extending beyond `injustice' and both cultural groups viewed `misfortunes' as `unfairnesses'. Implications for a commonsense morality across cultures are discussed. (shrink)

The studies presented here apply the concept of entitativity in order to understand how belonging to a particular geographical area – neighborhood - can determine the way others organize information and form impressions about area’s residents. In order to achieve this objective, three studies were carried out. The first study aims to verify if a neighborhood varies in terms of perceived entitativity, and identify the physical and social characteristics of the neighborhoods that are more strongly associated with the perception of (...) entitativity. The Study 2 and 3 used an experimental paradigm to explore how people’s perceptions of neighborhoods’ entitativity influenced their impressions of residents. To activate stereotypes, Study 2 used the name of real neighborhoods, and Study 3 employed only a set of pictures of unknown neighborhoods. The results show that the neighborhoods vary significantly with the regard to the perception of entitativity, and a set of physical attributes of place were strongly related with entitativity. The results showed that, independent of stimuli, the neighborhoods perceived as highly entitative, the supposed residents were subject to more extreme and quicker trait judgments, supported by greater confidence on the part of perceivers. Study 3 also reported that in highly entitative neighborhoods, the perceivers transferred more traits from the group to individual members. These results provide strong evidence that physical structure of neighborhoods imply different entitatity judgments that influences the way in which residents are perceived. (shrink)

This article examines the transformative role of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) in education, exploring diverse disciplines such as engineering, medicine, programming, and information systems. GAI emerges as a revolutionary force, promising to fundamentally change educational practices. The PRISMA 2020 methodology (Page et al., 2021) was used to evaluate the relevant scientific literature. The systematic review identified research that applied specific criteria in the analysis of IAG in education. The selected papers covered a variety of disciplines, providing a comprehensive view of (...) the impact of IAG in education. The results show a diversity of approaches and institutional responses to IAG in education. From significant changes in teaching practices to the identification of specific opportunities in disciplines such as computer science and engineering, GAI stands out as a catalyst for transformation. The adaptation of tertiary education, the need for specific skills to work with GAI, and ethical responses emerge as key themes. It focuses on the need for a deeper and more consensual understanding of the role of GAI in education. Concrete research-supported opportunities are highlighted, but ethical limitations and concerns are also underscored. Collaboration, reflection, and adaptation to open educational practices are proposed as approaches to address the challenges and fully exploit the benefits of IAG in education. This comprehensive analysis contributes to understanding the current and future landscape of GAI in education, providing valuable guidelines for educators, institutions, and educational technology developers. (shrink)

The savanna theory of happiness proposes that, due to evolutionary constraints on the human brain, situations and circumstances that would have increased our ancestors’ happiness may still increase our happiness today, and those that would have decreased their happiness then may still decrease ours today. It further proposes that, because general intelligence evolved to solve evolutionarily novel problems, this tendency may be stronger among less intelligent individuals. Because humans are a diurnal species that cannot see in the dark, darkness always (...) represented danger to our ancestors and may still decrease our happiness today. Consistent with this prediction, the analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) data shows that exposure to sunlight was associated with happiness but the association was significantly weaker among more intelligent individuals. (shrink)

En los primeros años del siglo XIV se planteó la polémica entre los franciscanos “espirituales” y el papa Juan XXII. El emperador alemán Luis de Baviera intervino en la confrontación a favor de los franciscanos y en contra del Papa. En la novela El nombre de la Rosa de Umberto Eco, se escenifica el conflicto entre el Franciscano Guillermo, que representa a Guillermo de Ockham y el inquisidor dominico Bernardo de Guí. En sus páginas se cita la filosofía de (...) Aristóteles, Tomás de Aquino Buenaventura de Bagnoregio, Marsilio de Padua y el propio Guillermo de Ockham. La filosofía política y el conocimiento científico de la época: Alberto Magno y Roger Bacon entre otros completan el panorama del citado siglo XIV. Todo ello demuestra una labor educativa incuestionable del libro de Umberto Eco. (shrink)

La afirmación “todos los triángulos son isósceles” es obviamente falsa; sin embargo, una supuesta “demostración” de tal aserto ha devenido muy popular. Al parecer, la autoría de dicha argumentación se debe a Rouse Ball (Rouse Ball, 1905, pp. 38-39). Diversos autores la han calificado como “falacia” o “sofisma”. Por ejemplo: Rouse Ball (1905, p. 38), E. A. Maxwell (1963, p. 13), Ya. S. Dubnov (2006, p. 2), Jesse Norman (2006, p. 2), Marvin J. Greenberg (2008, p. 25), K. Manders (...) (2008, p. 94). Hamblin enseña que un argumento falaz, desde el punto de vista de una larga tradición que se remonta a Aristóteles, es un argumento que no es válido, pero lo parece (Hamblin, 1970, p. 12). Así si se pretende afirmar que un argumento dado es una falacia, dos cuestiones resultan esenciales: ¿por qué el argumento es incorrecto?, ¿por qué luce como si fuera correcto? El objetivo aquí es, respondiendo ambas interrogantes, enriquecer la comprensión de este caso y, en general, algunos aspectos de la demostración geométrica heterogénea. (shrink)

This study discusses the mimic octopus’ (Thaumoctopus mimicus) acts of imitation of a banded sea-snake (Laticauda sp.) as an antagonistic response to enemies from a cognitive-semiotic perspective. This mimicry model, which involves very close physical resemblance and highly precise enactment, displays goal-orientedness because the octopus only takes it on when encountering damselfish, a territorial species, and not other sea animals that the octopus has been shown to imitate, such as lionfish and flounders (Norman et al. 2001). Based on theoretical (...) principles and analytic tools from Mitchell’s (1986) typology of deceptive acts, Zlatev’s (2008) Mimesis Hierarchy and Zlatev’s (2018) types and levels of (self-)consciousness, this research raises the possibility that T. mimicus exhibits the following attributes: (i) bodily self-awareness; (ii) cognitive empathy, which builds upon deception and perspective-taking strategies to imagine or project itself into the place of the antagonist; and (iii) capability to reflectively reorganise the standard complete imitation pattern into a partial one in order to optimise its effect, based on conscious visual appraisal of the stimulus position. These capacities would place T. mimicus at the dyadic mimetic level on the Mimesis Hierarchy. For this reason, it is suggested that the name mimic octopus could be replaced by mimetic octopus. (shrink)

The author asks whether there was a “scientific ‘68”, and focuses on aspects of two specific methodological proposals defined in the 1940s and 50s by the terms “action research” and “mixing methods”, applied particularly to social sciences. In the first, the climate surrounding the events of 1968 contributed to heightening the participative element to be found –by definition– in “action research”; that is: the importance of making the research subjects themselves participants in the design, execution and application of the study (...) of which they are the focus. This approach captured the democratic and anti-authoritarian spirit at the heart of the proposal, which was part of the prevailing climate in those days. The repercussions of 1968 on “mixing methods” focused on studying what had actually occurred, especially between the youth and workers, and therefore, particularly from the point of view of sociology and social psychology, using a “mixed methods” approach. The author explores the proposal of Norman Denzin; but traces the recent origins of both “mixing methods” and “action research” back to the proposals of mainly Kurt Lewin and the Chicago School. (shrink)

La invasión napoleónica a la Península Ibérica provocó una crisis de legitimidad política en las principales ciudades y provincias chilenas. Lo que comenzó como una revolución autonomista derivó con el tiempo en una guerra civil con aspiraciones separatistas. Este artículo estudia este contexto de guerra civil revolucionaria en un período clave de la historia de Chile: el gobierno de Bernardo O’Higgins. Para ello, se han escogido los reportes y cartas preparadas por cinco agentes estadounidenses residentes en el país durante (...) la administración o’higginista. Ellos muestran importantes aspectos sobre el faccionalismo y sobre el involucramiento de los estadounidenses en las disputas entre la denominada Logia Lautaro y el grupo liderado por José Miguel Carrera. Asimismo, permiten hacerse una idea de las tratativas del gobierno de O’Higgins por alcanzar el reconocimiento de la independencia chilena de parte de Estados Unidos y el valor asignado por las elites chilenas a los regímenes republicano y monárquico. (shrink)

Some years ago Ed Freeman and William Evan wrote an article offering a Kantian stakeholder theory of corporate responsibility. Ed was kind enough to allow Tom Beauchamp and me to publish that previously unpublished piece in the second edition of Ethical Theory and Business. That article has appeared in every subsequent edition. But a Kantian theory of stakeholder relationships is not, I believe, a complete Kantian theory of the modem corporation. I believe Ed originally intended to expand that paper into (...) a larger project but Ed’s philosophical interest in pragmatism has distanced him from Kantianism and his writings in stakeholder theory have gone in a different direction. Indeed in this postmodem feminist anti-foundationalist age, Kant is very much out of fashion. Since I am always out of fashion I had no trouble promising Ed I would complete the Kantian piece of the project. This essay is the condensed version and a partial fulfillment of my promise. A Kantian always keeps his promises. (shrink)

Prologue: The moral order from Hobbes to Hutcheson -- "The duties of man as they may be deduced from nature" : James Logan's unpublished venture into moral philosophy, an analysis -- Epilogue: Logan and Benjamin Franklin.

This article makes a positive case for an ethnographic sensibility in political theory. Drawing on published ethnographies and original fieldwork, it argues that an ethnographic sensibility can contribute to normative reflection in five distinct ways. It can help uncover the nature of situated normative demands (epistemic argument); diagnose obstacles encountered when responding to these demands (diagnostic argument); evaluate practices and institutions against a given set of values (evaluative argument); probe, question and refine our understanding of values (valuational argument); and uncover (...) underlying social ontologies (ontological argument). The contribution of ethnography to normative theory is distinguished from that of other forms of empirical research, and the dangers of perspectival absorption, bias and particularism are addressed. (shrink)

In this article we examine the changing relationship to risk as revealed by the covid-19 pandemic and the ways this has, and may in future, alter sacramental practice, considering the radical effects this could have on traditional Christian practice. We consider the cultural trends that may lie behind this developing approach to risk, examining this in the context of an emergent transhuman identity that is technologically moderated and seeks to overcome risks of human mortality.

A study of the tradition of ethical socialism, its successes, its failures, and its relevance to contemporary Britain. It focuses on a group of writers who, although separated by time, all promoted this brand of socialism. It chronicles their thoughts and theories, and examines their intentions.