The 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry’s report Future of the Chemical Sciences presents four different scenarios for the future of chemistry: chemistry saves the world; push-button chemistry; a world without chemists; and free market chemistry. In this paper we ethically assess them. If chemistry is to solve many of the greatest challenges facing the contemporary world, prioritization of research topics will need to be done explicitly on the basis of moral values, ​​such as solidarity and equity, but also environmental justice, (...) which will have to be central in determining a research agenda for chemistry. The decentralization of chemistry will also present ethical challenges to the research standards established by the scientific community. Ethical education in chemistry may help counteract these risks. We also argue that if chemistry and its subdisciplines are to fulfil their goal of generating knowledge and helping us solve the great challenges of the contemporary world, then it is ethically imperative that scientists from different disciplines be more open to interdisciplinary work. Finally, if the future of chemistry is in free market forms, then it is necessary that we pay more attention to the possible risks that this model has. We call attention to two: first, it is likely that problems that affect the lowest income countries or the most disadvantaged sectors of society, who do not have the means to pay for some of the goods and services, will not be addressed; second, the free market tends to foster unsustainable forms of development. (shrink)

A partir de los textos de Millán-Puelles (1921-2005), se expone su enseñanza sobre la muerte, que gira alrededor de la índole general de la vida, la estructura hilemórfica del ser humano y la inmortalidad del alma intelectiva. Al final se presenta la posición de Millán-Puelles en cuestiones éticas referidas a la muerte: suicidio, pena de muerte, etc.

The paper focuses on Reinhardt Grossmann's analysis of the Argument from Physics, as well as the analysis by the Spanish philosopher Antonio Millán-Puelles, in an attempt to assess the validity of the Argument on the basis of their respective critical views. Both authors agree in perceptual realism and in the need to distinguish between the scope and object of Physics and the ordinary objects of natural perception. Their criticisms mainly concern the innappropiate use of the principle of reduction (...) in the Argument and the distinction between secondary and primary qualities, which is, according to Grossmann, one of the sources of idealism and phenomenalism. (shrink)

El presente artículo analiza, en su primera parte, aspectos recurrentes de la personalidad del comisario Maigret, famoso personaje de ficción del novelista belga Simenon. A continuación se procura advertir dos aparentes aporías cognoscitivas que plantean esas recurrencias: – Por un lado, la resuelta negación de método por parte del comisario compaginada con un comportamiento indagatorio idiosincrásico; – Por otro lado, unos resultados policiacos sorprendentes a la par que se supone, durante el desarrollo de las investigaciones, una permanente suspensión del pensamiento. (...) Para resolver estas contradicciones aparentemente irresolubles, se recurrirá, en el último apartado a dos categorías cognoscitivas elaboradas por la filosofía: el ya clásico conocimiento por connaturalidad; y la conciencia concomitante o inobjetiva, prestando especial atención, en lo referente a esta modalidad de conciencia, a la obra del filósofo español Antonio Millán- Puelles. (shrink)

In order to clarify the relationship between morality and law, it is necessary to define both concepts precisely. Cultural realities refer to concepts which are more specifically defined if we focus towards the genealogy of those realities, that is to say, their motivation, function and aim. Should we start from legal anthropology, comparative law and history of law, law arises as a social technique which coactively imposes ways of solving conflicts, protecting fundamental values for a society's co-existence. Values subject to (...) being protected are proposed by morality, the latter making subordination of law to morality inevitable. This explains that a great number of modern constitutions include a reference to fundamental moral values, that is to say, they have explicitly positivised moral contents. Legal reasoning, at all levels and expressions, needs to appeal to the aforementioned values. Constitutional reasoning, international law, legislative activity and judicial practice are studied to verify the latter. This subordination of law to morality sets out a serious problem: moralities are cultural realities which are only valid for a specific society. In order for law not to fall in a not very rational legal relativism, law should not be subordinated to morality, but to ethics, the latter understood as cross-cultural morality. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a step forward in this sense. (shrink)

The use of energy supplies for economic activities is a major global concern due to its environmental impact. Mitigating this problem involves the adoption of clean energies, so it is not trivial to assess those that can fit into this category, particularly the part corresponding to electrical energy. While the consumption of the latter is often perceived as more environmentally friendly than other sources, its production process raises significant questions, hence the core motivation to evaluate the behavior of the main (...) inputs for electrical energy production over 50 years and its correlation with the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP), confirming a prominent dependence on fossil fuels, a situation that seems to differ from the expectations set forth through the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Conference of the Parties. On the other hand, even though the production of electrical energy is consistent with the behavior of the world GDP, it shows heterogeneous annual percentage changes. (shrink)

La Dialéctica de la Ilustración se encuentra en el epicentro de todas las disputas en torno a la Teoría Crítica. Para la mayoría de sus intérpretes es el reflejo de un estado de ánimo provocado por el fascismo, la II Guerra y el genocidio. Una manifestación de filosofía negativa de la historia, que solo tuvo sentido como provocación, pero ya no nos sirve para interpretar ni aquel momento, ni el presente. ¿Es posible retornar a esta obra con provecho? En este (...) artículo se analiza el concepto de dialéctica que encontramos en el título. Cómo se llegó a él y cuál es su verdadero significado. Con ello se ofrece una contribución que ayude a resolver algunos de los malentendidos que todavía existen sobre esta obra clave del siglo XX. (shrink)

Este artículo analiza la relación entre individuo y sociedad en Theodor W. Adorno. Para ello se centra en las tensiones y mediaciones entre teoría de la sociedad y psicoanálisis. Su punto de partida es el horizonte histórico concreto del vínculo que une a ambos: la conjunción de crisis e integración. Después presenta la constitución social de la subjetividad desde la perspectiva de teoría crítica, la economía psíquico-libidinal como matriz psicosocial de dicha constitución, la tesis de la debilitación del individuo en (...) un capitalismo monopolista autoritario, su expresión en el carácter autoritario y el narcisismo herido, para acabar señalando los límites históricos del sujeto neurótico y modelo edípico y los elementos de una posible actualización de las aportaciones de una psicología social psicoanalítica. (shrink)

This book clarifies the meaning of the most important and pervasive concepts and tools in bioethical argumentation and assesses the methodological suitability of the main methods for clinical decision-making and argumentation. The first part of the book is devoted to the most developed or promising approaches regarding bioethical argumentation, namely those based on principles, values and human rights. The authors then continue to deal with the contributions and shortcomings of these approaches and suggest further developments by means of substantive and (...) procedural elements and concepts from practical philosophy, normative systems theory, theory of action, human rights and legal argumentation. Furthermore, new models of biomedical and health care decision-making, which overcome the aforementioned criticism and stress the relevance of the argumentative responsibility, are included. (shrink)

The study of these fundamental questions, which were in part already addressed in a first monographic section dedicated to Ḥasdai Crescas in the last issue of this journal, is expanded in its perspective and scope by the articles contained in this second dossier.

In 1971, Chicano activist Armando Réndon began to chart new directions for Chicana/o politics that move away from a narrow emphasis on cultural and ethnic nationalism. He argues that urban Chicana/o neighborhoods ought develop community-based organizations to provide support services for residents and to advocate local concerns to elected officials. In the first part of this essay, I reconstruct Réndon's concept of a 'barrio union' as an example of participatory democracy. I situate his concept of neighborhood democracy within Mexican American (...) and Progressive movement history, and then highlight contemporary experiments with this model that are particularly successful in transforming traditionally marginalized individuals into active democratic participants. I then suggest that the barrio union is a repository of cultural, ethical, and political ideals that might be used by progressive Chicana/o activists to challenge the meaning of dominant institutions and political traditions within the United States, particularly the ways in which we conceive of race and American citizenship. (shrink)

La autonomía es parte esencial de la fundamentación moral de la sociedad contemporánea y ha dado lugar en el ámbito asistencial a un nuevo modelo de relación y de toma de decisiones clínicas. El objetivo de este artículo es exponer el significado de la autonomía del paciente a través de la distinción de tres dimensiones: autonomía decisoria, autonomía informativa y autonomía funcional o ejecutiva, la periodización de su evolución normativa a lo largo de tres etapas, y la propuesta de cuestiones (...) o desafíos que merecen ser objeto de estudio y aplicación en el futuro. (shrink)

One of the objectives in the field of artificial intelligence for some decades has been the development of artificial agents capable of coexisting in harmony with people and other systems. The computing research community has made efforts to design artificial agents capable of doing tasks the way people do, tasks requiring cognitive mechanisms such as planning, decision-making, and learning. The application domains of such software agents are evident nowadays. Humans are experiencing the inclusion of artificial agents in their environment as (...) unmanned vehicles, intelligent houses, and humanoid robots capable of caring for people. In this context, research in the field of machine ethics has become more than a hot topic. Machine ethics focuses on developing ethical mechanisms for artificial agents to be capable of engaging in moral behavior. However, there are still crucial challenges in the development of truly Artificial Moral Agents. This paper aims to show the current status of Artificial Moral Agents by analyzing models proposed over the past two decades. As a result of this review, a taxonomy to classify Artificial Moral Agents according to the strategies and criteria used to deal with ethical problems is proposed. The presented review aims to illustrate (1) the complexity of designing and developing ethical mechanisms for this type of agent, and (2) that there is a long way to go (from a technological perspective) before this type of artificial agent can replace human judgment in difficult, surprising or ambiguous moral situations. (shrink)

Resumen La química tal y como la conocemos hoy es un sistema de prácticas científicas estables y experimentales que se enseñan de la misma manera en la mayoría de los países. Es heredera de una multitud de oficios que coinciden en el objetivo de transformar y crear nuevas sustancias. Aquí se discute el límite material de la sustancia química mediante el ejemplo del carbono, y en particular del experimento de difracción del C60. Con ello se intentará precisar el concepto de (...) sustancia química y su relevancia en la discusión filosófica actual.Chemistry, as we know it today, is a system of scientific, experimental practices, stabilized and taught in the same way in most countries. It is the inheritor of several trades whose objective is to transform and create new substances. I discuss here the material limit of the chemical substance, exemplified by carbon, and particularly by the C60 diffraction experiment. I thus intend to clarify the concept of chemical substance and its relevance in the current philosophical discussion. (shrink)

La narrativa de Danilo Kiš aborda la representación de la riqueza de la singularidad humana desde la recreación de mundos pretéritos arrasados por la barbarie y la injusticia. Con esta intencionalidad, sus libros se erigen como memento de unos ejemplares humanos que se presentan como símbolos de todas las vidas truncadas por la violencia de la historia. En el presente artículo queremos abordar específicamente cómo Kiš desarrolla, fundamentalmente en La Enciclopedia de los muertos, una singular concepción metafísica de la persona (...) humana, una idea de su ser individual, en la que la futilidad y el vacío de la muerte son transformados en compromiso ético y estético de recuperación de lo humano, vinculando la memoria de las víctimas anónimas al curso de la historia. (shrink)

Santo Antônio de Lisboa, na qualidade de pregador, deixou um legado de sermões, nos quais encontra-se toda uma visão de vida cristã. A obra não pode ser qualificada como pertencente a um filósofo, tal como se deu este nome a outros seus contemporâneos, mas possui denso conteúdo teórico, como, por exemplo, no que se refere à dimensão ética do conceito de justiça.

In this essay, l examine Cesar Chavez’s thoughts on the effects of Mexican immigration on the United States. I argue that neo-nativist authors are wrong in thinking that a growing Latino population will develop into a distinct political bloc that will destabilize the nation. Instead, I maintain that Chavez suggests how a strong Latino presence might occasion a shift of values in the United States toward a culture ofpeace. I argue that Chavez develops a logic of nonviolent practice, drawing on (...) aspects of Mexican culture and political history, that is meant to guide the struggle for social justice in the United States. I explore how Chavez structured the nonviolent campaigns of the United Farm Workers around this logic of nonviolence in hopes of being a model that would revitalize the tradition of American nonviolent protest. (shrink)

A modo de hipótesis de partida, este texto cuenta como supuesto con que en el pensamiento político de Suárez, de Gracián y de Saavedra Fajardo encontramos pistas suficientes para sostener que pueden entenderse como exponentes de un ethos barroco con perfil de ethos de resistencia. Si ello es así, podemos decir que en el barroco hispano encontramos, salvando las distancias, algunos elementos, especialmente sobre la razón de Estado, que permiten ver en él lo que se presentó por el filósofo Bolívar (...) Echeverría, desde América, como ethos barroco. Y a la vez, cabrá proponer que dicho ethos barroco con esa doble apoyatura a uno y otro lado del Atlántico da pie para una relectura del mismo que permita esbozar en la actualidad aportaciones relevantes para una salida de la crisis de la modernidad que necesita otro paradigma. (shrink)

The phenomenon of prophecy is a significant topic with a relevant uniqueness in medieval Jewish thought. In Jewish tradition, prophecy was a form of intermediation between the divine and human. Our intention in this paper is to explore and understand this problem like a theological idea and like an intellectual phenomenon of consciousness with obvious epistemological implications. We shall do taking into account the philosophical influences of this conception, fundamentally Islamic thinkers, and focusing our search in the most significant perspectives (...) about the topic, namely Yehudah Ha-Levi, Abraham ibn Daud and Moses Maimonides. (shrink)

Marsilio de Pádua e Guilherme de Ockham viveram seus últimos anos na corte de Luís da Baviera. Ambos opuseram-se aos papas da época. Entretanto, a posição deles a respeito do primado do sumo pontífice não é idêntica. Enquanto Marsílio a nega quase totalmente, Ockham observa que se trata de um problema de cunho teológico e critica os argumentos de Marsílio.

The aim of this article is to analyze Book III of Bernard of Clairvaux 's treatise De consideratione dedicated to his former disciple, the Pope Eugenius IIL In this particular Book, Bernard considers, on the one hand, the principal duties of the Roman Pontíff concerning spiritual affairs and, on the other reflects about the main problems that at the time were prejudicial of the good order as well as of the religious and moral life and peace expected in the interior (...) of the Ecclesia/Christianitas. The author of the article infers from this analysis that the Doctor Mellífiuous clearly supports the thesis that the Pope must not exercise the fullness of power in spiritualibus (much less in temporalibus), even though there were reasons that could justífy actions of this kind, because they do not have a basis in Scripture nor in Justice; neither does it consider the utility it might have for the faithful, or their sense of decency. The article also underlines the importance and the posterior reception of this Book III in the political writings of William of Ockham and of Marsilius of Padua against the pontifical hierocracy during the first half of the XIV century. (shrink)

Marsílio de Pádua, embora não tenha escrito sobre Teoria da História, contudo oferece pistas para analisar-se como a ciência histórica estava formulada no século XN. Pela leitura de seus textos, vê-se como formulou a teoria a partir de fatos candentes de seu tempo.

El trabajo presenta un modelo de psicología moral a partir del análisis del libro primero de las Leyes de Platón y, en particular, de la imagen de la marioneta. Entre los intérpretes contemporáneos se debate sobre si esta imagen compromete una comprensión de la templanza como “victoria” sobre los placeres o si más bien respalda una comprensión de esta virtud como “acuerdo” entre estos y la razón. Para responder a esta cuestión, se recurrirá a la psicología bipartita del Filebo. Esto (...) permitirá reconocer, en la educación de la virtud, el conflicto entre afectos y, en el resultado de este proceso educativo, el acuerdo entre razón y afectividad. (shrink)

Este estudio parte del análisis del sentido de la votación y de la sentencia que pusieron fin a la causa inquisitorial de Juan de Ávila para proseguir con una investigación sobre las personas que compusieron la junta de asesores y el tribunal que la dictó. Su objetivo no ha consistido sólo en la identificación de las mismas, sino que se ha extendido a la exposición de aspectos fundamentales de sus respectivas biografías, particularmente del desarrollo de sus carreras hasta 1533, aunque (...) sin que se perdiera de vista la evolución posterior. Se ha reconstruido de esta manera una prosopografía específica para la cuestión que nos preocupa. La orientación de sus decisiones sobre el proceso de Juan de Ávila no es independiente del cómo fueron estos individuos. Se entiende que el conocimiento de cado uno de ellos, la posibilidad de establecer los rasgos fundamentales de sus personalidades, procediendo desde el conocimiento de sus orígenes familiares y sociales, así como de la formación que poseían, ayudan a explicar el contexto histórico y generacional en que ellos, como jueces, y Juan de Ávila, como reo, estuvieron situados. (shrink)

El artículo describe la decisiva participación de los países América Latina y de sus juristas en el desarrollo del Derecho del Mar, desde el cuestionamiento del Derecho clásico a partir de la Declaración de Santiago (1952) a su modernización en la III Conferencia de la ONU sobre el Derecho del Mar. Expone la disparidad de posiciones entre los Estados “territorialistas” y los “patrimonialistas”, especialmente desde la Declaración de Santo Domingo (1972) que elaboró la noción de “mar patrimonial”, que sirvió de (...) fundamento para la aceptación en la Conferencia de la Zona Económica Exclusiva. El autor -protagonista directo en la Conferencia en su calidad de jefe-adjunto de la delegación española- narra las principales intervenciones de las distintas delegaciones iberoamericanas sobre los principales temas y cuestiones abordados por la Conferencia en sus 11 sesiones, y los avatares que llevaron a la adopción de la Convención de Montego-Bay sobre Derecho del Mar de 1982. (shrink)

This chapter examines the connection between culture and democracy with an eye toward developing a foundation for American citizenship that is informed by the experiences of Latinos/as in the United States. It begins by surveying arguments from philosophers within the American pragmatist tradition that correlate the stability of a democratic political regime with habits, tastes, and attitudes of a given people. These thinkers, namely Horrace Kallen, Jane Adams, and John Dewey, have developed two models to conceptualize the relationship of immigrant (...) communities to democratic citizenship and governance: cultural pluralism and multiculturalism. The chapter intends to demonstrate that Latino cultural citizenship is a form of cultural pluralism and, as such, does not seek to transform liberal representative democracy in any deep, significant sense. We can see this when we hold up Latino cultural citizenship to the radical challenge posed by progressive thinkers, such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King Jr., who argued that social justice in the United States cannot be achieved unless we move beyond liberal multiculturalism, and the idea of what it means to be an American is altered to reflect the experiences of non-white peoples. (shrink)