The use of black box algorithms in medicine has raised scholarly concerns due to their opaqueness and lack of trustworthiness. Concerns about potential bias, accountability and responsibility, patient autonomy and compromised trust transpire with black box algorithms. These worries connect epistemic concerns with normative issues. In this paper, we outline that black box algorithms are less problematic for epistemic reasons than many scholars seem to believe. By outlining that more transparency in algorithms is not always necessary, and by explaining that (...) computational processes are indeed methodologically opaque to humans, we argue that the reliability of algorithms provides reasons for trusting the outcomes of medical artificial intelligence. To this end, we explain how computational reliabilism, which does not require transparency and supports the reliability of algorithms, justifies the belief that results of medical AI are to be trusted. We also argue that several ethical concerns remain with black box algorithms, even when the results are trustworthy. Having justified knowledge from reliable indicators is, therefore, necessary but not sufficient for normatively justifying physicians to act. This means that deliberation about the results of reliable algorithms is required to find out what is a desirable action. Thus understood, we argue that such challenges should not dismiss the use of black box algorithms altogether but should inform the way in which these algorithms are designed and implemented. When physicians are trained to acquire the necessary skills and expertise, and collaborate with medical informatics and data scientists, black box algorithms can contribute to improving medical care. (shrink)

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, members of the Salamanca School engaged in a sustained and sophisticated discussion of the issue of just prices. This article uses their contribution as a point of departure for a consideration of justice in pricing which will be relevant to current-day circumstances. The key theses of members of this school were that fairness of exchanges should be assessed objectively, that the fair price of an article is one equal to its ‘value’, and that the (...) best indicator of that value is the price that article commonly fetches in an open market. This article tries to bring to light the attractiveness of those views in order to guide current practice by contrasting them with alternative views, showing their connection with intuitively attractive basic standards, and linking them to commonly shared intuitions. (shrink)

Juan Manuel Burgos presents his own version of personalism, which is nevertheless well rooted in the personalist tradition. He has been developing his project for years and is among a group of world-renowned personalists who study the complexity and mystery of the human person. His new book deals with the relationship between personalism and metaphysics. He poses the question of whether personalism can be considered a first philosophy. The answer is positive: it is indeed a sectorial first philosophy, (...) which may or may not be supported by traditional metaphysical projects, especially Thomistic ones. Not every personalist has to agree with its final thesis, although its position is well-founded and deserves much scholarly attention. It provokes further questions and opens up new areas of personalist discussion. This book confirms that personalism is a dynamic and growing school of thought that goes beyond describing the mere phenomena of the person and seeks deeper reasons for his being. I highly recommend this book as a new step to help us better understand the reality of the human person. (shrink)

Achieving trustworthy AI is increasingly considered an essential desideratum to integrate AI systems into sensitive societal fields, such as criminal justice, finance, medicine, and healthcare, among others. For this reason, it is important to spell out clearly its characteristics, merits, and shortcomings. This article is the first survey in the specialized literature that maps out the philosophical landscape surrounding trust and trustworthiness in AI. To achieve our goals, we proceed as follows. We start by discussing philosophical positions on trust and (...) trustworthiness, focusing on interpersonal accounts of trust. This allows us to explain why trust, in its most general terms, is to be understood as reliance plus some “extra factor”. We then turn to the first part of the definition provided, i.e., reliance, and analyze two opposing approaches to establishing AI systems’ reliability. On the one hand, we consider transparency and, on the other, computational reliabilism. Subsequently, we focus on debates revolving around the “extra factor”. To this end, we consider viewpoints that most actively resist the possibility and desirability of trusting AI systems before turning to the analysis of the most prominent advocates of it. Finally, we take up the main conclusions of the previous sections and briefly point at issues that remain open and need further attention. (shrink)

This article aims to develop a new account of scientific explanation for computer simulations. To this end, two questions are answered: what is the explanatory relation for computer simulations? And what kind of epistemic gain should be expected? For several reasons tailored to the benefits and needs of computer simulations, these questions are better answered within the unificationist model of scientific explanation. Unlike previous efforts in the literature, I submit that the explanatory relation is between the simulation model and the (...) results of the simulation. I also argue that our epistemic gain goes beyond the unificationist account, encompassing a practical dimension as well. (shrink)

Este artículo analiza el sentido que el concepto de mundo circundante (Umwelt) asume en Jakob von Uexküll, examina las distintas formulaciones que presenta en el desarrollo de su obra, y destaca las sucesivas redefiniciones que afectan a sus dos componentes: el mundo perceptible (Merkwelt) y el mundo de efectos (Wirkungswelt, Wirkwelt). Teniendo en cuenta el significativo impacto que el concepto de Umwelt tuvo en la filosofía continental, el propósito del estudio es reconstruir su sentido en función de las fuentes primarias (...) y, a través de un análisis histórico-conceptual, iluminar aspectos que no suelen ser tematizados en la literatura –en particular, aquellos relativos al mundo de efectos–. (shrink)

This book addresses key conceptual issues relating to the modern scientific and engineering use of computer simulations. It analyses a broad set of questions, from the nature of computer simulations to their epistemological power, including the many scientific, social and ethics implications of using computer simulations. The book is written in an easily accessible narrative, one that weaves together philosophical questions and scientific technicalities. It will thus appeal equally to all academic scientists, engineers, and researchers in industry interested in questions (...) related to the general practice of computer simulations. (shrink)

Benito Jerónimo Feijoo (1676-1764) fue uno de los autores que, a partir del siglo XVI, formularon críticas a la enseñanza de la lógica clásica. En el presente artículo se examinan varios de los argumentos esgrimidos por Feijoo contra la lógica tradicional; algunos de estos se explican mejor al revisar la obra del pensador Novohispano Tomás de Mercado (15?-1575). Se resaltan los planteamientos de Feijoo que son afines o pertinentes a las críticas actuales a la lógica.

Bruno Latour have been included among the ranks of social constructivism since the 1990’s. In this paper, we analyze one of Latour’s most cited -and criticized- papers, in which he sustained that to say that Ramses II died because of tuberculosis was a nonsense, as ridiculous as to say the he died “of machine gun fire”. To do that, we will contextualize his text in its historical period of production, we will identify Latour’s ontological commitments, and we will introduce his (...) theory on the construction of facts and what he calls circulating reference. We will conclude that Latour was right, neither Ramses II died because of tuberculosis, nor he is a social constructivist. (shrink)

Desde el comienzo de la pandemia causada por la enfermedad COVID19, los gobiernos del Norte Global han demandado políticas dirigidas a “aplanar la curva”, principalmente a través del distanciamiento social, utili-zando pruebas y rastreo donde fuese factible y, en algunos casos, imponiendo confinamientos casi totales e indiscriminados. Este fue el caso de España, donde desde el 15 de marzo hasta el 21 de junio se impuso una cuarentena que hizo que la mayor parte de la ciudadanía se viese confinada en (...) su casa. En este texto intenta-mos reflexionar acerca de esta experiencia y de las implicaciones quepudiera tener para el futuro. Para ello realizamos un análisis sobre las distintas funciones del hogar —como refugio, lugar de resistencia y lugar de acogida—, y los cambios a los que la experiencia del COVID19, entendido en relación con el nuevo régimen climático, puede originar en ellas. Para ello nos basaremos en las reflexiones de Judith Butler, Sarah Ahmed, bellhooks e IsabelleStengers. (shrink)

En este artículo me propongo discutir dos de las grandes interpretaciones del Aufbau, la de Quine (1953, 1969), continuada por muchos anglosajones, que introduce el programa propuesto en el Aufbau en la tradición del empirismo británico destacando sus aspectos epistemo-semánticos y la que, defendida por los neokantianos y, en particular, por Friedman (1997) y Richardson (1998), enfatizan lo estructural o lógico sobre lo epistemológico y semántico. Se trata de dos interpretaciones unilaterales e insuficientes que es preciso complementar e integrar, como (...) se evidencia en el caso de constitución formal de los objetos físicos, haciendo uso de la lógica moderna (teoría de relaciones), la teoría de conjuntos y de la topología como lo hace Carnap en el Aufbau. (shrink)

El pensamiento existencial ha sido determinante en su crítica a la abstracciónde los sistemas idealistas. Contribuyendo al desarrollo filosófico de lafenomenología, dicho pensamiento ha planteado de manera radicalmentenueva el problema de la existencia. Conviene por tanto preguntarsenuevamente por el destino del existencialismo, corriente que ha conocidouna gran moda después de la Segunda guerra mundial y que ha marcadomás de dos generaciones de intelectuales. En lo más fuerte de la ola, elexistencialismo representaba toda la filosofía, al punto que varios escritoresencontraron en (...) el pensamiento de la existencia nuevas formas de escritura,como lo testimonian los libros de Jean–Paul Sartre y de Maurice Merleau–Ponty. En esta óptica, el presente artículo trata sobre los temas ligados a laherencia y a la recepción del pensamiento existencial en dos autores biendiferentes como Sastre y Merleau–Ponty. (shrink)

The problem of ontological determination of the historical being, inHeidegger’s words, can´t be developed in the historiografic ground as anhistorical science; further, the right conceptualization of epistemologicalproblems about historiografy, mains depends on a previous resolution of thehistorical..

En la última década se observa una recurrente rehabilitación de la filosofía de Gilbert Simondon para pensar el sentido y los desafíos de las tecnologías digitales para las sociales contemporáneas. En este marco, teniendo como eje las efectuaciones de la noción simondoniana de lo transindividual y la caracterización de las tecnologías digitales (Web 2.0, Big data y machine learning), el artículo reconstruye el campo problemático que establecen un conjunto de lecturas entre 2012 y 2016, particulariza sus operaciones teóricas y pondera (...) sus distintas estrategias. En este sentido, tras introducir el debate entre Bernard Stiegler y Muriel Combes en la década de 1990, se analizan las interpretaciones de Mark Hansen, Antoinette Rouvroy y Thomas Berns, Stiegler y Simon Mills. (shrink)

Presentamos la doctrina tradicional de la conversión simple de las oraciones categóricas y de las oraciones modales cuantificadas atendiendo al análisis medieval de las mismas en base a las oraciones de identidad. Estas oraciones de identidad resultan ser necesarias cuando son verdaderas e imposibles cuando son falsas. Simplificamos nuestro tratamiento reduciendo nuestro universo del discurso a pequeños �mundos� de individuos y propiedades recurriendo en parte al simbolismo ordinario y añadiendo un símbolo para la parte modal.

Después de hacer un breve recorrido por la cultura española del último siglo, el autor analiza las razones por las que la cultura católica ha pasado en poco tiempo de ser la predominante a encontrarse en retroceso. Para Burgos, la razón principal es la no-elaboración durante el régimen de Franco de una cultura católica moderna que fuera capaz de superar los enormes retos del concilio, el posconcilio y la apertura al pensamiento contemporáneo que tuvo lugar durante la Transición. Ese fracaso (...) condujo a una manifiesta pérdida de influencia en los procesos de configuración social, tendencia que se está agudizando por la imposición de un laicismo excluyente desde instancias gubernativas. Para resolverlo, el autor propone cinco líneas de actuación en el interior de la cultura católica: 1) la plena asunción intelectual del Concilio Vaticano II, es decir, la asunción crítica de la modernidad; 2) la actuación en los mecanismos de socialización contemporánea; 3) la normalización cultural del catolicismo; 4) la promoción de las condiciones adecuadas para la creatividad, y 5) el conocimiento y difusión de lo propio. (shrink)

The general objective of this essay is to systematize Jean-Luc Nancy’s post- deconstructive reflections on the concept of evidence. A general claim of this paper is that the post-deconstructive concept of evidence is genuinely an epistemic concept of evidence insofar as it refers to structures involved in verification processes. Evidence is the presentation of a state of affairs that relates the presentation not only to what we claim about this state of affairs but also to the singular circumstances of its (...) production. Verification (the production of a claim’s truth) results directly from the singularities involved in the production or presentation of evidence. This means that evidence is never exhausted in the truth it produces or the knowledge it validates but remains a priori exposed or available to produce and validate unknown knowledge about unknown states of affairs. (shrink)