Literature on indoctrination has focused on imparting and revising beliefs, but it has hardly considered the way of teaching and acquiring certainties—in Wittgenstein’s sense. Therefore, the role played by rationality in the acquisition of our linguistic practices has been overestimated. Furthermore, analyses of the relationship between certainty and indoctrination contain major errors. In this paper, the clarification of the aforementioned issues leads me to suggest the avoidance of the term ‘indoctrination’ so as to avoid focusing on the suitability of the (...) case to the concept rather than on the analysis of the case itself. This should facilitate that the process of helping children to acquire a world-picture—by teaching them to ignore alternatives to certainties—is definitely accepted as normal and natural, for many beliefs are expected to end up becoming ungrounded certainties not only in the medium or long term, but also, and above all, in the short term. (shrink)

Aunque política y ciencia constituyen hoy en día ramas casi antagónicas del conocimiento humano -acaso combinables en ámbitos ficcionales como el cine y la literatura-, la relación entre filosofía política y astronomía es una constante histórica que alcanza especial fuerza en el pensamiento emancipatorio del siglo xix. El presente artículo sitúa en ese marco La eternidad por los astros y, asimismo, somete a contraste la peculiaridad retórica e ideológica de esta obra, en donde Louis-Auguste Blanqui propone una contigüidad entre orbe (...) celeste y sociedades humanas, basada en su análogo funcionamiento y su común atavismo. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that the certainty about the wrongness of killing must not be considered as a universal, but as a local one. Initially, I show that there exist communities in which the wrongness of killing innocents is not a moral certainty and that this kind of case cannot be justified by arguing that such people are psychopaths. Lastly, I argue that universal certainties do not admit of exceptions: thus, the fact that some exceptional cases affect the certainty (...) that killing innocents is wrong, leads me to conclude that it is a local certainty. (shrink)

While in his late works Walter Benjamin seems to employ painting in an accessory way —either as an auratic counterfigure, or as a propitiatory victim of the technical image—, the allusions to the medium that guide his trajectory show its importance in the whole of his aesthetic reflection and even in the development of his theory of language. Especially relevant to understanding the general features of his idea of painting is the unpublished youth essay “On Painting, or Sign and Mark”, (...) as well as other writings of the same period that, although address the matter tangentially, shape it to a greater or lesser degree and determine its general scope. (shrink)

It is expected that children increasingly learn to identify errors throughout their schooling process and even before it. As a further step, however, some scholars have suggested how a culture of error should be implemented in the classroom for the student to be able not only to locate errors but also, and above all, to learn from them. Yet the various proposals aimed at generating a culture of error in the classroom keep regarding error as all those responses and reactions (...) that are not considered as true or correct in each specific case, thereby not realizing that many of these alleged errors are really anomalies with very different characteristics and consequences despite their seeming resemblance. In this paper, I rely on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s On Certainty to clarify the difference between errors and anomalies. Subsequently, I provide guidelines that may be adapted by each teacher to her students’ needs and development level in order to foster a culture of error that begins by distinguishing er... (shrink)

In this paper, I describe the main lines of modern error theory, a systemic theory which regards errors not as the results of someone’s negligence, but as parts of a complex system. Bearing in mind that errors must be considered as such by an observer or attributor, I expose Wittgenstein’s conception of the attributor responsible for discerning if a strange event constitutes an error or an anomaly. Subsequently, I illustrate this conception of the attributor by describing some traits of the (...) role played by many attributors in business organizations, specifically in the production line of a car manufacturer’s plant, when carrying out the rootcause analysis of problems that arise in the plant. Finally, I reveal a paradox whereby if the attributor denies the possibility that anomalies may happen without being able to explain their source within the system that he or she takes as reference, then the very idea of system no longer makes sense. (shrink)

Traducción, selección y estudio preliminar José María Felipe Mendoza * Edición bilingüe. Se recomienda descargar el PDF para visualizar mejor la traducción y el original en paralelo.

This paper presents the concept of ‘religious certainty’ I have developed by drawing inspiration from Wittgenstein’s notion of ‘certainty’. After describing the particular traits of religious certainty, this paper addresses two difficulties derived from this concept. On the one hand, it explains why religious certainty functions as such even though all its consequences are far from being absolutely clear; on the other hand, it clarifies why, unlike the rest of certainties, the loss of religious certainty does not result in the (...) collapse of the world-picture made up of all certainties. Subsequently, it analyzes to what extent the teacher can teach religious certainty by acting as a facilitator for its acquisition–if desired—particularly bearing in mind that religious certainty cannot be attained at will. These basic teaching guidelines have several advantages. First, they make it possible to know the nature of religious certainty even better. Second, and most importantly, the fact of having adopted the perspective of a teacher who tries inculcating a religious certainty contributes to detecting and preventing forms of indoctrination that, arguably, might go unnoticed even when attempting to properly present religious certainty—or rather, this way of being religious—in current schools to foster understanding thereof. (shrink)

After describing Wittgenstein's notion of ‘certainty’, in this article I provide four arguments to demonstrate that no certainty can be acquired at will. Specifically, I argue that, in order to assimilate a certainty, it is irrelevant whether the individual concerned has found a ground that seemingly justifies that certainty; has a given mental state; is willing to accept the certainty on the proposal of a persuader; or tries to act according to the certainty involved. Lastly, I analyse how each of (...) these arguments is reflected in the way children acquire certainties. (shrink)

Resumen Populismo es un término que ha devenido moda en el discurso político contemporáneo, después de que algunos lo creían desaparecido. El término es aún de uso impreciso y se utiliza en diversas realidades discursivas, las que a su vez remiten a diferentes mundos objetivos: ideologías políticas, movimientos y agrupaciones políticas, estilos discursivos y programas de acción política y modos de obrar, tanto en los regímenes autoritarios como democráticos. Una primera parte de este trabajo se destina a un intento de (...) despejar esta selva semántica y tratar de ubicar el uso de los conceptos en su nivel adecuado, buscando definir los componentes que permiten caracterizar a un discurso populista. En alguna de las aproximaciones del populismo éste ha sido caracterizado como ideología, lo que también se analiza. En un segundo momento se estudian las perspectivas del análisis del discurso político, poniendo énfasis en la práctica de la cortesía y la descortesía en las manifestaciones concretas del discurso sobre el populismo, donde aparece como una forma particular de lograr adhesión afectiva, recurriendo a la construcción de una imagen social del otro o del destinatario favorable o positiva, en oposición al diferente u opuesto. Se analizan discursos de diferentes políticos del hemisferio occidental, tomados de los medios de comunicación, donde se busca ubicar los elementos populistas y el contexto en el que tienen o tuvieron lugar, tratando de analizar los efectos de ese discurso. Se toma en cuenta que en los debates políticos de cualquier escenario alrededor del populismo son más las expresiones de agresividad verbal y descortesía que las derivadas de una actitud de cortesía. (shrink)

Philosophical Investigations, Volume 45, Issue 1, Page 91-97, January 2022.

Durante los últimos decenios del siglo XX la filosofía de Francisco Suárez fue considerada parte integrante de un movimiento escolástico comúnmente mencionado como escuela tomista. La perspectiva de abordaje, según el mote impuesto, colocaba la posición especulativa del Dr. Eximio más próxima al dominico Tomás de Aquino de acuerdo con los siguientes matices: a. en el ámbito epistémico la figura del Aquinate eclipsaba ampliamente aquella de Suárez, promoviendo una auténtica desconsideración de sus tesis originales; b. el jesuita español fundaba, igual (...) que Tomás de Aquino, la división de las ciencias especulativas en el acto intelectual de abstracción; c. la diferencia entre ambas concepciones metafísicas no implicaba necesariamente una comprensión epistémica distinta. Ahora bien, contra estas interpretaciones aparece en el siglo XXI otra lectura, donde se acentúa la diferencia decisiva de la filosofía del jesuita del siglo XVI, quien, en letras medievales, escribe y piensa en permanente tensión entre la herencia de la filosofía antigua y medieval por una parte, y una neo-escolástica de aires renacentistas por la otra. De acuerdo con ello, si bien su pensamiento discurre por una tradición aristotelizante del saber, la comprensión de las ciencias se asienta, a diferencia de Tomás de Aquino, en clave objetiva. Sobre esta premisa, el siguiente estudio abordará con exclusividad la originalidad epistémica de Suárez según la división de las ciencias especulativas y reales, mostrando el orden, el principio y las relaciones entre las ciencias física, matemática y metafísica. (shrink)

After making reference to the socio-cultural context of fin-desiècle Vienna —in which Otto Weininiger’s work appears— I describe in this paper the main characteristics of the influence that Weininger’s Über die letzten Dinge had on Ludwig Wittgenstein. I deal specifically with the way Wittgenstein’s work reflects Weininger’s remarks on criminality, animality, and madness.

La “Teología del pluralismo religioso” (TPR) no es una teología “sectorial”, o “de genitivo”, que teologizara temas nuevos dentro de la “universa theologia”. O sea, la TPR no agranda cuantitativamente el campo de la teología. Hace su aportación, pero cualitativamente: trata los mismos temas, pero bajo una luz distinta, con otra pertinencia, otro “objeto formal”. Es una teología que replantea todo desde otra perspectiva, con otro ordenamiento, a partir de otro “paradigma”. Por eso, los desafíos de esta teología son fuertes. (...) Grandes perspectivas generales nunca antes cuestionadas, se derrumban ahora, y surgen otras nuevas, desafiantes. El autor se centra en una selección de los principales cambios que producen esos desafíos actuales. Los aborda y trata de justificarlos, mostrando en cada caso sus implicaciones para la reflexión teológica y para la vida cristiana. El paso de una valoración negativa del pluralismo a otra positiva, la nueva comprensión de la Revelación, la superación y hasta el abandono de la categoría de “elección”, las principales propuestas de cambio en campos tan sensibles como los de la cristología, la eclesiología y la moral, así como la transformación de la misión son las cuestiones de esto breve estudio. Palabras clave: Pluralismo; Cambio de paradigma; Pluralismo de principio; Elección; Inclusivismo; Misión. ABSTRACT The Theology of religious pluralism (TRP) is not “a sectorial” theology or “a genitive theology”, which would theologize new subjects, that is to say one more field inside the “universa theologia”. In other words, it does offer a quantitative novelty instead of a qualitative one. TRP deals with the same subjects, but from another point of view, another “formal object”. Everything is retrieved from another order, point of view, and “paradigm”. In this way, challenges seem to be huge. Great general perspectives that have never been are effected and new challenges reappear. The author works on the selection of main changes that produce current challenges. Such Challenges are presented and justified, showing in each case its implications for theological reflexion and well as for Christian life. The core of this brief study refers to the shift of a negative to a positive evaluation of the religious pluralism, a new understanding of the Revelation, the overcoming and the abandon of the category of the “election”, the main challenges in the sensible field of christology and moral, as well as the transformation of the mission. Key words: Pluralism; Shift of paradigm; Pluralism of principle; Election; Inclusivismo; Mission. (shrink)

Este artículo reseña: Oscar Celador Angón, Entidades locales y libertad religiosa, Ed. Dykinson, Madrid 2023, 214 pp.

Wittgenstein scholars have tended to interpret the acquisition of certainties, and by extension, of a world-picture, as the achievement of a state in which these certainties are assimilated in a seemingly unconscious way as one masters language-games. However, it has not been stressed that the attainment of this state often involves facing a series of challenges or difficulties which must be overcome for the development of the world-picture and therefore the socialization process to be achieved. After showing, on the one (...) hand, how a world-picture is usually developed, and on the other hand, why a child who seemingly found itself trapped in a precocious skepticism might have serious problems in assimilating certainties, in this paper, I describe some of the challenges children often meet as they acquire a world-picture. Since the overcoming of these challenges is often needed for children to develop a world-picture, I aim at raising the awareness of the necessity of ‘learning to believe’, that is, of developing a series of skills that allow children to undertake the challenges described in this paper. (shrink)

Dossier: Post-religional Paradigm Editorial - Vol. 13, no. 37, Jan./Mar. 2015.

En este artículo discrepo de Kusch (2016) en tres cuestiones relacionadas con las expresiones de certezas aritméticas –en el sentido de Wittgenstein– y los usos regulares de las expresiones aritméticas. Específicamente, explico por qué los cálculos no se convierten en certezas por el hecho de haber sido probados; Argumento que los cálculos probados constituyen enunciados de conocimiento; y, por último, pero no menos importante, concluyo de esto que tales cálculos probados son decibles, mientras que las certezas aritméticas son inefables o (...) indecibles. (shrink)

Según señaló Ludwig Wittgenstein en Sobre la certeza, podríamos imaginar acontecimientos tan extraños que ni siquiera tuvieran cabida en nuestros juegos de lenguaje. En este artículo analizaremos las distintas consecuencias de estos hechos, prestando especial atención a la posibilidad de decidir aferrarnos a nuestras propias certezas. Concretamente, detallaremos en qué circunstancias podemos tomar tal decisión.

Wide analysis of "María Teresa López de la Vieja, La pendiente resbaladiza. La práctica de la argumentación moral . Madrid y México, D.F.: Plaza y Valdés, 2010, 288 páginas.".