RESUMENLa teoría representacional de la mente, basada en el concepto de representación, ha sido muy criticada, especialmente por recientes enfoques en la ciencia cognitiva, provenientes de la Biología y la Inteligencia Artificial. En este trabajo me centro especialmente en el punto de vista de Francisco Varela, quien sugiere la exclusión del término representación en la explicación de los sistemas cognitivos. Muestro que ello no es necesario, y que hay razones para hablar de representaciones en la relación que tenemos con el (...) mundo en términos de conocimiento, por tanto, el antirrepresentacionalismo de Varela es inadecuado. En ese sentido me parece más afortunada la apreciación que hacen de la ciencia cognitiva y la filosofía de la mente Andy Clark y Pascual Martínez-Freire, y ésta es la postura que defenderé en contra de Varela.PALABRAS CLAVEMENTE, REPRESENTACIÓN, COGNITIVISMO, CONDUCTA, SISTEMAABSTRACTThe representational theory of the mind, based on the concept of representation, has been very criticized, specially by recent approaches to cognitive science, originated from Biology and Artificial Intelligence. In this work I focus my attention specially on the point of view of Francisco Varela, who suggests the exclusion of the term representation in the explanation of cognitive systems. I show that it is unnecessary, and that there are reasons to talk about representations in the relation that we have with the world in terms of knowledge, and therefore, Varela’s antirepresentacionalism is inadequate. In that connection the appreciation that Andy Clark and Pascual Martínez-Freire do of cognitive science and the philosophy of the mind seems more fortunate to me, and this is the position that I will defend against Varela.KEYWORDSMIND, REPRESENTATION, COGNITIVISM, BEHAVIOR, SYSTEM. (shrink)

Presentamos las dificultades relatadas por estudiantes de pedagogía de dos universidades latinoamericanas, en el contexto de la pandemia COVID-19. Los datos fueron obtenidos a partir de registros escritos y encuestas respondidas por los estudiantes y analizados a partir de una visión freireana de educación. Los problemas junto con el sufrimiento emocional de los jóvenes revelaron el distanciamiento entre docentes y estudiantes y entre sus pares, lo que impactó su proceso formativo. Una práctica educativa que valore el diálogo y los contextos (...) de intereses y motivaciones de los estudiantes se torna fundamental para su formación académica más humana, integrada y transdisciplinar. (shrink)

The present paper intends to draw the conception of language implied in the technique of word embeddings that supported the recent development of deep neural network models in computational linguistics. After a preliminary presentation of the basic functioning of elementary artificial neural networks, we introduce the motivations and capabilities of word embeddings through one of its pioneering models, word2vec. To assess the remarkable results of the latter, we inspect the nature of its underlying mechanisms, which have been characterized as the (...) implicit factorization of a word-context matrix. We then discuss the ordinary association of the “distributional hypothesis” with a “use theory of meaning,” often justifying the theoretical basis of word embeddings, and contrast them to the theory of meaning stemming from those mechanisms through the lens of matrix models (such as vector space models and distributional semantic models). Finally, we trace back the principles of their possible consistency through Harris’s original distributionalism up to the structuralist conception of language of Saussure and Hjelmslev. Other than giving access to the technical literature and state of the art in the field of natural language processing to non-specialist readers, the paper seeks to reveal the conceptual and philosophical stakes involved in the recent application of new neural network techniques to the computational treatment of language. (shrink)

En este artículo vamos a dar cuenta de las características fundamentales del proyecto epistemológico de Pierre Bourdieu, que no aparece explicitado en ninguna obra teórica en particular, sino que debe ser reconstruido a partir del conjunto de sus obras teórico-epistemológicas, en un recorrido dialéctico desde las primeras reflexiones aparecidas en el Oficio de Sociólogo (1973) - con un carácter de principios elementales para las buenas prácticas sociológicas --hasta las complejas y profundas reflexiones sobre el problema del conocimiento y su giro (...) neokantiano, expresadas en Meditaciones Pascalianas (1999) y El Oficio de Científico (2003). En términos generales podríamos decir, siguiendo a Baranger (2005), que Bourdieu busca provocar una ruptura al interior del campo epistemológico,desplazando la reflexión sobre el conocimiento científico del campo de la filosofía hacia el de una teoría científica del conocimiento, y ubicando a la epistemología al servicio de la investigación social, convirtiéndola en una herramienta del proceso de construcción del objeto científico en las ciencias sociales. (shrink)

In this book Strawson is again considering topics as the existence of the exterior world, the moral attitudes, the universal... The novelty is not so in his original ideas as in the fact that these are useful to keep on completing the doctrine of a "descriptive" and "naturalist" metaphy-sick against "revisionism" such as the scepticism in its different modalities.

En su actuación, los estados poderosos traspasan frecuentemente los límites de la moral y del derecho, escudándose, confiésenlo o no, en alguna versión de la vieja máxima de que el fin justifica los medios. Los autores y promotores de las transgresiones recurren sistemáticamente a la legitimidad democrática de la que gozan para justificar sus acciones. Se presentan como meros defensores y ejecutores de la voluntad popular y alegan su obligación de mantener incólume el orden estatal y de preservar las condiciones (...) que hacen posible la libertad de los ciudadanos. Este libro insiste en la inevitabilidad del conflicto entre las compulsiones inherentes al Estado en cuanto a organización de poder y sistema de dominación que compite incansablemente con otros estados y las exigencias éticas y jurídicas del orden social. Ahora bien, no se limita a deplorar esta condición ni a insistir ingenuamente en la necesidad de reafirmar la intangibilidad de los valores fundamentales y de las reglas que hacen posible la civilización humana, sino que entra de lleno en la discusión de los peligros que dimanan de la conjunción de poder y democracia. Tanto en la medida en que el poder burla el mandato democrático como en la medida en que el plebiscito democrático puede dar pábulo y justificación a los desmanes del poder. Este punto de vista lleva al autor a polemizar con la idea corriente de la democracia como voluntad de la mayoría, haciendo hincapié en los mecanismos y procedimientos contramayoritarios como medio de defensa y potenciación de la libertad y la justicia y como ingredientes necesarios de una concepción no menoscabada de la democracia. (shrink)

Supondo que a experiência do nós ético-histórico, da comunidade, do povo forma parte da idiossincrasia cultural de nossa América, procura situar uma ética inculturada a partir da perspectiva latino-americana. Trata do próprio conceito do nós ético-histórico e de sua eticidade, sem pretender sequer esboçar uma ética a partir desta abordagem. Em primeiro lugar, aborda a compreensão do “nós” (1) e, a seguir, a racionalidade ética que corresponde a tal compreensão (2). Só então, e partir dali, será possível começar a refletir (...) sobre os distintos conteúdos de uma ética do nós. (shrink)

We would like to thank the authors of the commentaries for their critical appraisal of our feature article, Who is afraid of black box algorithms?1 Their comments, suggestions and concerns are various, and we are glad that our article contributes to the academic debate about the ethical and epistemic conditions for medical Explanatory AI. We would like to bring to attention a few issues that are common worries across reviewers. Most prominently are the merits of computational reliabilism —in particular, when (...) promoted as an alternative to transparency—and CR as necessary but not sufficient for delivering trust. We finalise our response by addressing concerns about the place and role of artificial intelligence in medical decision-making and the physician’s responsibilities. We understand the concerns and reservations that some of the reviewers express regarding the epistemic merits of CR. We believe that, in part, this is due to a practice too deeply rooted in transparency. But on …. (shrink)

In this paper, we try to expose the fundamental ideas at the basis of Jorge Millas’ axiology. First, we will expose synoptically the core of the legal philosophy that the Chilean thinker develops on his works on the subject, including his conception about philosophy in general , and about legal science in particular . Secondly, we will expose the epistemological suppositions of his legal philosophy , and his consequent conception of law’s essence , the legal rule and its foundation, and (...) the axiological theory that Millas develops on the basis of the distinction and relationship between “is” and “ought” . We conclude with a critical analysis that pretends to expose the strengths and weaknesses of the legal theory of this Chilean author. (shrink)

The literature on mathematical explanation contains numerous examples of explanatory, and not so explanatory proofs. In this paper we report results of an empirical study aimed at investigating mathematicians’ notion of explanatoriness, and its relationship to accounts of mathematical explanation. Using a Comparative Judgement approach, we asked 38 mathematicians to assess the explanatory value of several proofs of the same proposition. We found an extremely high level of agreement among mathematicians, and some inconsistencies between their assessments and claims in the (...) literature regarding the explanatoriness of certain types of proofs. (shrink)

This paper argues that the science of logic follows the theory of knowledge. The objects are ens rationis. It admits that we have two kind of logic: formal logic, which follows via rationis, named abstractio formalis; and real logic, which follows via rationis, named abstractio totius. In consequence, there are divers habits of logic, which permit the use of our different acts of understanding, which pertain to both uses of ratio. Each one of these different logics has different principles: the (...) rational principle, the axioms of logic; the formal principle; the principle of generalisation. (shrink)

This article explores the meaning of the root k-f-r in the Quran, questioning the practice of translating the noun kāfir as “infidel.” It argues for a distinction between the idiomatic phrasal verb kafara bi-, which does mean to reject or disbelieve, and the simple intransitive verb kafara and its deverbal nouns, which are used in the Quran in a large number of different ways. This polysemy is explored through contextual readings of Quran passages. It is argued that the noun kāfir, (...) unlike the verb kafara, is used only with regard to adherents of traditional polytheism and is not deployed in an unmodified way with regard to Jews and Christians. The possible influence on the Arabic kafara of Greek and Latin conceptions is also broached. (shrink)

Resumen: La aproximación que Durkheim esboza en Las Reglas es en la actualidad más bien criticada: sería una visión conservadora, que olvida la importancia de los agentes y una sociología de lo social que solo observa el orden establecido. Sin embargo, una lectura atenta de Las Reglas muestra que sus afirmaciones básicas -que es un hecho social, que debe ser visto como una cosa, y que debe buscarse su explicación a través de otros hechos sociales- son correctas y pueden integrar (...) los elementos válidos de las críticas realizadas. Detrás del rechazo a Durkheim aparece el rechazo a una afirmación radical de Las Reglas que nos resulta más bien intolerable: que la imposición es parte natural de la vida social.: The approach that Durkheim delineates in The Rules of Sociological Method is currently criticized: it is a conservative view that forgets the relevance of agents and it is a social sociology that only observes established order. However, an intensive reading of The Rules shows that their basic statements -about what is a social fact, that they should be treated as things, and that their explanation should be searched in other social facts- are correct one and they can integrate the correct elements argued by its critics. Behind the rejection to Durkheim there is the rejection to a radical statement in The Rules, one that is unbearable for us: that coercion is a natural part of social life. (shrink)

Resumen: Este ensayo tiene como propósito fundamentar teóricamente el carácter situado del conocimiento de la vida cotidiana. Como punto de partida, apoyándonos en la noción de “forma de vida” de Ludwig Wittgenstein, postulamos que nuestras decisiones son, fundamentalmente, usos prácticos de sistemas de reglas históricamente construidas y, por consiguiente, irreductibles a procedimientos algorítmicos de evaluación racional costo-beneficio. Posteriormente, para abordar la cuestión sobre las condiciones que hacen posible la incorporación subjetiva de estas reglas y, con ello, nuestro sentido práctico, recuperamos (...) algunos planteamientos de las tesis del “trasfondo” de John Searle y habitus de Pierre Bourdieu. Luego de esta discusión, a partir de la perspectiva de los conocimientos situados de Donna Haraway, proponemos que la conformación de dicho sentido es siempre parcial, esto es, sujeto a prácticas articulatorias encarnadas. Finalmente, tras exponer sucintamente los principales aspectos críticos de las tesis “trasfondo” y habitus, argumentamos que la perspectiva de los conocimientos situados representa una alternativa plausible para fundamentar teórica y metodológicamente una nueva aproximación al conocimiento de la vida cotidiana.: This essay argues for a situated character of knowledge of everyday life. As a starting point, relying on Ludwig Wittgenstein's notion of “form of life”, we propose that our decisions are fundamentally practical uses of historically constructed rules systems and, therefore, those are irreducible to algorithmic procedures of rational cost-benefit evaluation. Later, to address the question of the conditions that make possible the subjective incorporation of these rules and, with it, our practical sense, we recover some approaches from the “background” thesis of John Searle and habitus by Pierre Bourdieu. After this discussion, from Donna Haraway's perspective of situated knowledge, we propose that the conformation of that sense is always partial; that is, related to embodied articulatory practices. Finally, we argue that the perspective of situated knowledge represents a plausible alternative to theoretically and methodologically support an approach to knowledge of everyday life. (shrink)

The traditional way of understanding life, as a self-appropriating and self-organizing process of not ceasing to exist, of taking care of one's own hunger, is challenged by today's unprecedented proliferation of discourses and techniques concerning the living being. This challenge entails questioning the fundamental concepts of metaphysical thinking--namely, time, finality, and, above all, being. Garrido argues that today we are in a position to repeat Nietzsche's assertion that there is no other representation of "being" than that of "living." But in (...) order to carry out this deconstruction of ontology, we need to find new ways of asking: What is life? In this study, Garrido establishes the basic elements of the question concerning life through readings of Aristotle, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida; through the discussion of scientific breakthroughs in thermodynamics and evolutionary and developmental biology; and through the reexamination of the notion of hunger in both its metaphysical and its political implications. (shrink)

Si a cierta doxa filosófico-ideológica en plena promoción le parece válido el caracterizar a todo Occidente como a esa civilización racionalista que arraiga en la revolución científica, filosófica y aun política que Descartes emblematizaría mejor que nadie, por poco que profundicemos en el análisis ..

In this study first we delineate an overview of the main philosophical positions on the problem of the distinction between mental acts and physical acts in man. There follows an exposition of the topic, inspired by Aristotle’s and Aquinas’s principles. Sensitive operations are physical, but in the sense of an ‘elevated body,’ thanks to a higher formal dimension, which informs the organic basis. Intellectual operations, by contrast, are completely immaterial, though they act united to the sensitive cerebral basis. Accordingly, they (...) have neurological correlations, guided by the intentional causality of the intellect. The intellectual act and its neural basis form a unique act, which is integrated by several cognitive dimensions. Our intelligence uses the brain as an intrinsic instrument, but we also need external ‘cognitive’instruments, namely written texts and computers. The intellectual development of people can be explained by the interaction of these different dimensions. (shrink)