Journal of Political Philosophy, EarlyView.

Placebos are often used by clinicians, usually deceptively and with little rationale or evidence of benefit, making their use ethically problematic. In contrast with their typical current use, a provocative line of research suggests that placebos can be intentionally exploited to extend analgesic therapeutic effects. Is it possible to extend the effects of drug treatments by interspersing placebos? We reviewed a database of placebo studies, searching for studies that indicate that placebos given after repeated administration of active treatments acquire medication-like (...) effects. We found a total of 22studies in both animals and humans hinting of evidence that placebos may work as a sort of dose extender of active painkillers. Wherever effective in relieving clinical pain, such placebo use would offer several advantages. First, extending the effects of a painkiller through the use of placebos may reduce total drug intake and side effects. Second, dose-extending placebos may decrease patient dependence. Third, using placebos along with active medication, for part of the course of treatment, should limit dose escalation and lower costs. Importantly, provided that nondisclosure is pre-authorized in the informed consent process and that robust evidence indicates therapeutic benefit comparable to that of standard full-dose therapeutic regimens, introducing dose-extending placebos into the clinical arsenal should be considered. This novel prospect of placebo use has the potential to change our general thinking about painkiller treatments, the typical regimens of painkiller applications, and the ways in which treatments are evaluated. (shrink)

Due to the pandemic and the suspension of in-person school classes, there was an interruption in the meals served to approximately 40 million students who benefited from the Brazilian National School Feeding Program (PNAE). This article describes two case studies, comparing the strategies adopted by two municipalities for maintaining school feeding during the Covid-19 pandemic in the northern region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and discuss possible impacts of these strategies on food and nutrition security. These municipalities (...) together cover about 81% of the population in the region. In July 2020, we conducted interviews with PNAE municipal managers, following a qualitative approach. We discuss the results in relation to existing Brazilian guidance on food and nutrition security. The municipalities have developed distinct strategies to overcome operational obstacles and maintain PNAE goals, such as distributing food kits and making cash transfers to students’ families. The main determinants of these strategies are financial availability, the relationship between municipal teams and school communities, and the pre-pandemic PNAE logistics and management. Depending on the strategy and duration of the pandemic, the impacts on food and nutrition security can be wide-ranging, affecting food quality and local farmers who sell products to PNAE. It is necessary to acknowledge that this is not a short-term pandemic and find ways to perform school feeding in accordance with PNAE criteria. (shrink)

O racismo é um dos problemas sociais que mais interferem nas relações cotidianas do ser humano, principalmente, no que diz respeito à população negra. Esse problema implica em sérias consequências no convívio entre as pessoas, gerando a necessidade de que intervenções sejam realizadas em âmbitos sociais para consciência e respeito mútuo, reconhecendo e valorizando diferenças raciais. A Educação das Relações Étnico-Raciais, que tem como pilar a Lei 10.639/2003, é uma das bases para que a temática étnico-racial possa ser discutida na (...) escola como forma de combate à práticas retrogradas de racismo e ideologias de superioridade de raças. Esse estudo de caso, realizado no interior da Bahia no Ensino Médio, teve como objetivo entender como tem sido a abordagem étnico-racial no ambiente e sua influência no cotidiano dos envolvidos. Observou-se que alunos e educadores têm percepções diferentes sobre o tratamento despendido ao negro no ambiente escolar; que a escola não tem feito inferências significativas sobre a temática; que falta conhecimento sobre as diretrizes para a Educação das Relações Étnico-Raciais; dentre outros. A partir dos achados verifica-se que faltam intervenções educacionais e formação profissional para abordagem discursiva e prática sobre a temática racial no ambiente. Palavras-chave: Educação; Ensino Médio; Relações Raciais; Racismo. (shrink)

This article addresses the contributions of the literature on the new mechanistic philosophy of science for the scientific practice of model building in ecology. This is reflected in a one-to-one interdisciplinary collaboration between an ecologist and a philosopher of science during science-in-the-making. We argue that the identification, reconstruction and understanding of mechanisms is context-sensitive, and for this case study mechanistic modeling did not present a normative role but a heuristic one. We expect our study to provides useful epistemic tools for (...) the improvement of empirically-riven work in the debates about mechanistic explanation of ecological phenomena. (shrink)

Inter- and transdisciplinary (ITD) approaches represent promising ways to address complex global challenges, such as climate change. Importantly, arts–sciences collaborations as a form of inter and transdisciplinarity have been widely recognized as potential catalysts for scientific development and social change towards sustainability. However, little attention has been paid to the process of reasoning among the participants in such collaborations. How do participants in arts–science collaboration reason together to overcome disciplinary boundaries and to co-create interventions? This article investigates how inter- and (...) transdisciplinary reasoning (or ITD reasoning) unfolded in a collaboration involving experts from the natural sciences, humanities, and the arts. We studied how collaborators reasoned through different understandings and experiences of climate change as well as through multiple ways of fostering motivation to take action via two co-designed artworks, HOMONEXUS (a participatory textile and acoustic installation) and GLACIER NEX US (a performance staging a dialogue between a melting glacier and a glaciologist). Our conclusions are threefold: (i) ITD reasoning can increase participants’ capacity to navigate often-unpredictable situations by cross-fertilizing ideas and overcoming blind-spots; (ii) humanities in arts–science collaborations can foster a more nuanced understanding of the differences and similarities of different knowledge systems as well as a deeper ecological understanding of sustainability problems; and (iii) the aesthetic experiences stimulated by arts–science interventions may help to raise awareness about the climate emergency and sustainable actions by providing pleasant and positive or dazzling and negative aesthetic experiences. (shrink)

O estudo de manuscritos literários pode se revelar como um terreno fecundo para a compreensão de movimentos criativos, a observação de hábitos redacionais e a reatualização de uma obra. Contudo, a crítica genética, ciência que embasa tal trabalho, vem disputando um espaço dentro do campo literário desde seu surgimento. A partir dessas considerações, o objetivo deste artigo é identificar os motivos que geram a marginalização da crítica genética e as perspectivas apresentadas por essa jovem ciência para a contemporaneidade. Para tanto, (...) por meio de um levantamento bibliográfico, foram elencados e discutidos os três motivos que geram tal marginalidade, bem como as possíveis contribuições dos processos genéticos para diversas áreas do saber e perante o avanço tecnológico.Palavras-chave: Manuscritos literários. Crítica Genética. Marginalidade. Perspectivas. (shrink)

The following study shows the main qualitative results obtained by means of a two follow up study with a group of telephone interpreters who previously participated in an ad hoc emotional regulation program designed according to their specific needs.The study aimed to evaluate the impact of the intervention program in the long term.The results demonstrated the positive effect of the program on the interpreters’ lives and on their emotional management.The need of verifying the effect of this kind of programs in (...) order to totally measure their impact through the time is discussed. (shrink)

RESUMO Este trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar os tipos de Argumentos Tópicos reconhecidos por Boécio, apontando suas diferenças quanto à disciplina a que pertencem. A partir disso, pretende-se considerar seu uso na “Consolação”, ressaltando que a utilização dessa forma de argumento possui, de acordo com o próprio filósofo, implicações sobre o objetivo do autor ao escrever o texto. Tendo sido sua última obra e escrita tão próxima ao estudo que realizou dos textos sobre os Tópicos, cuja pretensão era de, mais (...) tarde, harmonizar com as demais partes da lógica para fortalecê-la conforme parece propor em ambos os escritos sobre o tema, pareceria pertinente supor que Boécio utilizaria esse tipo de argumento para encontrar as inferências mais adequadas ao seu discurso, dando-lhe força e deixando clara sua intenção por meio da estrutura formal a que recorreu. ABSTRACT This paper aims to present the types of Topical Arguments recognized by Boethius, presenting their differences as to the discipline to which they belong. From this, it is intended to point out its use in the Consolation, emphasizing that the use of this type of arguments has, according to the philosopher himself, implications on the author's goal for writing the text. Having been his last work and having been written so close to his study of the texts on the Topics, which he intended to harmonize later with the other parts of logic in order to strengthen it as it seems to be proposed in both of his writings on the subject, it would seem appropriate to suppose that Boethius would use this type of argument to find the most appropriate inferences to his discourse, giving it strength and making his intention clear through the formal structure to which he resorted to. (shrink)

George Berkeley. Alciphron/Siris. Tradução, apresentação e notas de Jaimir Conte. São Paulo: Editora da Unesp, 2022. O volume reúne traduções de duas obras de George Berkeley, “Alciphron, ou o filósofo minucioso” e “Siris”. “Alciphron” é estruturado como um diálogo filosófico entre quatro personagens, no qual Berkeley combate os argumentos dos chamados “livres-pensadores” (como Mandeville ou Shaftesbury), fazendo uma apologia do Cristianismo. Já “Siris” é tanto um tratado sobre as virtudes medicinais da água de alcatrão quanto uma visão do filósofo (...) das cadeias do ser, explorando a gradual ascensão que vai do mundo dos sentidos e da mente, até chegar ao sobrenatural e a Deus, a essência trina. (shrink)

The Roman years of Tommaso Campanella were made possible by the protection and patronage of the pope Urbano VIII Barberini. Campanella composed from 1627 to 1631 three series of lengthy Commentaria on the Poemata, the book of Barberini’s Latin poems. What are the Commentaria? This complex, full-length bunch of manuscripts is often dismissed as pure flattery or as another strange, slightly delirious fruit of the exalted mind of the prophet-monk. We think instead that the Commentaria were seen by Campanella as (...) a new start for his philosophical system, furthermore shedding on it a new light: the light of a system, and the reassuring clarity of a pedagogy. Moreover, with the “Collegio Barberino” project, strongly tied to the Commentaria, Campanella tries to lay the foundations of a new educational system fitted for the new Rome and the cultural needs of the 17th-century élite. (shrink)

Scientific understanding as a subject of inquiry has become widely discussed in philosophy of science and is often addressed through case studies from history of science. Even though these historical reconstructions engage with details of scientific practice, they usually provide only limited information about the gradual formation of understanding in ongoing processes of model and theory construction. Based on a qualitative ethnographic study of an ecological research project, this article shifts attention from understanding in the context of historical case studies (...) to evidence of current case studies. By taking de Regt’s contextual theory of scientific understanding into the field, it confirms core tenets of the contextual theory suggesting a normative character with respect to scientific activities. However, the case study also shows the limitations of de Regt’s latest version of this theory as an attempt to explain the development of understanding in current practice. This article provides a model representing the emergence of scientific understanding that exposes main features of scientific understanding such as its gradual formation, its relation to skills and imagination, and its capacity for knowledge selectivity. The ethnographic evidence presented here supports the claim that something unique can be learned by looking into ongoing research practices that can’t be gained by studying historical case studies. (shrink)

The doctor-patient relationship is built on an implicit covenant of trust, yet it was not until the post-World War Two era that respect for patient autonomy emerged as an article of mainstream medical ethics. Unlike their medical forebears, physicians today are expected to furnish patients with adequate information about diagnoses, prognoses and treatments. Against these dicta there has been ongoing debate over whether placebos pose a threat to patient autonomy. A key premise underlying medical ethics discussion is the notion that (...) the placebo effect necessitates patient deception. Indeed, the American Medical Association guidelines imply that placebo treatment necessary entails a form of deception. As a consequence of this assumption, the fulcrum of debate on the use of placebo treatment has hinged on whether that deception is ever justified. Recently performed experiments with open-label transparently prescribed placebos have begun to challenge the notion that deception is necessary in eliciting the placebo effect and such effects necessarily involve a binary distinction between autonomy and beneficence. In this article we focus on the content of disclosures in distinctive open-label, transparently disclosed placebo studies and inquire whether they might be said to invoke deception in clinical contexts, and if so, whether the deception is unethical. We find that open placebos may be said to involve equivocation over how placebos work. However, drawing on surveys of patient attitudes we suggest that this equivocation appears to be acceptable to patients. We conclude that open placebos fulfil current American Medical Association guidelines for placebo use, and propose future research directions for harnessing the placebo effect ethically. (shrink)

Philosophy of Science in Practice (PoSiP) has the “practice of science” as its object of research. Notwithstanding, it does not possess yet any general or specific methodology in order to achieve its goal. Instead of sticking to one protocol, PoSiP takes advantage of a set of approaches from different fields. This thesis takes as a starting point a collaborative and interdisciplinary research between two Ph.D. students from distinct areas: ecology and philosophy. This collaboration showed how a scientist could benefit from (...) philosophy of science (in this case study the philosophical approach of. mechanistic explanation) to construct a model of his explanandum, by means of heuristics approach (heuristics as an instrument but also a methodological approach) and, also allowed philosophy of science take a closer look into the scientific practice to investigate how explanations are constructed and how scientific understanding is achieved (in this thesis, with a dialogue with the contextual theory of scientific understanding). As a result, it is asserted that (i) mechanistic explanation possess limitations but may work as epistemic instruments that mediate between theories, data, scientists, and models; (ii) explanation construction and scientific understanding deeply relies on intuition; (iii) scientific understanding is an instant, a moment, a temporary achievement, and its process may happen in degrees; (iv) philosophy of science, by means of heuristics process, may enhance scientists’ epistemic virtues, improving his academic skills, by means of self-evaluation. This research shows that interdisciplinarity and collaborative work can act, through heuristics, as a toolbox for PoSiP to achieve its goal of understanding how science is made. Despite its success, an analysis of this collaborative practice leads to some fundamental issues. First, philosophy of science in practice is a philosophy of past practice, in that the majority of examples used by mainstream PoSiP come from the final products of science. Second, is it philosophy of [science in practice] or philosophy of science [in practice]? How to practice philosophy of scientific practice and, how to practice interdisciplinarity in the philosophy of scientific practices simultaneously to its scientific activity? This research exposes the epistemic role heuristics and interdisciplinarity possess as methodological toolboxes for philosophy of science in practice. It is defended that other ways of constructing sciences would be through different dynamics such as collaborative networks and interdisciplinarity research contributing to the vision of Trading Zones from Peter Galison, in which bridges between specialized disciplines are created in order to exchange knowledge and information. (shrink)

William Harvey (1578-1656) presented his conceptions on blood circulation in Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis e sanguinis em animalibus (Anatomical study on the heart and blood movement in animals) in 1628. His most relevant work was the treatise De motu cordis, as it is better known, which resulted from more than nine years of observations and anatomical demonstrations in animals and humans. It greatly impacted the period's physicians, philosophers, and anatomists, generating several comments and criticisms. Harvey's ideas concerning blood circulation (...) implied a break with the accepted knowledge of the time, based mainly on the conceptions of Claudio Galeno (129 AD- 216 AD). This article aims to present Harvey's ideas on the subject and discuss to what extent they represent a break with the ideas of his predecessors. This research corroborates the view defended by more recent historiography that knowledge about blood circulation has been constructed since Antiquity, although Harvey's work is prominent. (shrink)

In some of the Aristotelian accounts, Parmenides’ thesis is construed in opposition to the philosophy of nature; on the other hand, he is also depicted, in a different context, as a cosmologist, to whom the Stagirite (and a long tradition afterwards, ending with Simplicius) ascribes a theory of becoming and its principles. In this paper, I exhibit and analyse the relevant passages from Physics I 1-3, Metaphysics I 3 and 5 and On generation and corruption I 3, providing an interpretation (...) that aims to solve the apparent paradox, making sense of the information we can gather from Aristotle’s and Simplicius’ testimonies. Eventually, I propose a construal of the Two Ways of fr. 2 with an emphasis on the predicative reading of einai, which could hint at the Parmenidean approach to cosmology that runs in parallel with the argument on Being. (shrink)

In this essay I engage the perspective of film phenomenology to analyze the black screen as a frame-breaking negative experience, based on an understanding of cinema as event. Relying on Vivian Sobchack’s phenomenological approach and taking inspiration from Cecil M. Hepworth’s How It Feels to Be Run Over, a case in point for a method predicated on the question of “how,” I place emphasis on the “film’s body” and consciousness which, through its own paralysis and impairment, affects the spectator’s lived-body. (...) Following the terminology of sociologist Erving Goffman, I approach both a car accident at the turn of the twentieth century and 9/11 on the cusp of the new millennium as frame-breaking events that generate a profound negative experience. I then describe the black screen in 9/11 films as a frame-breaking occurrence that creates a negative event in its own right. The encounter with the breakage of the conventional mechanisms and modes of the “film’s body” as well as the forced sensory shift lead the spectator to a heightened awareness of his/her own body as a receiving medium that empathetically partakes in the experience of a negative event at the scene of cinema, both perceptually and reflexively. (shrink)

The term ‘scientism’ has not attracted consensus about its meaning or about its scope of application. In this paper, we consider Mizrahi’s suggestion to distinguish ‘Strong’ and ‘Weak’ scientism, and the consequences this distinction may have for philosophical methodology. While we side with Mizrahi that his definitions help advance the debate, by avoiding verbal dispute and focussing on questions of method, we also have concerns about his proposal as it defends a hierarchy of knowledge production. Mizrahi’s position is that Weak (...) Scientism should be adopted, stating that “of all the knowledge we have, scientific knowledge is the best knowledge”. This version of scientism, however, has consequences for philosophical methodology. In particular, if one conceives of philosophy as an a priori discipline and holds Weak Scientism, the introduction of empirical methods in philosophy may threaten its very essence or soul. In this chapter, we will defend the move to adopt empirical methods in philosophy and argue that, rather than threatening its essence or soul, these methods put philosophy in a better position to contribute to knowledge production, an endeavor shared with the sciences, and in a very interdisciplinary spirit. Our point of disagreement with Mizrahi is that we should avoid any hierarchy of knowledge, and instead focus on what each perspective -- scientific, philosophical, historical, or other -- can contribute to understanding phenomena. (shrink)

In 1972 the Socialist Party and the Communist French Party signed the Programme Commune du Gouvenement d'Union de la Gauche. Six years marked the electoral agenda of the two “historical enemies” in search of political convergence that remained an open debate, also animated by the current of antitotalitarian thought that increased public disrepute towards the pro-Soviet left and the PCF. Political and ideological differences between alternative government guidelines were amplified by the publication of Alexander Solgenitsin’s Gulag Archipelago which will significantly (...) influence the philosophical discourse and French political dynamics of that historical ridge. (shrink)

This paper explores the role of metonymy in determining a syntactic argument alternation (“conductor-vehiclealternation”) which occurs in English and Portuguese:o piloto acelerou a Ferrari“the driver speeded up the Ferrari”/a Ferrari acelerou“the Ferrari speeded up/sped away”. Since the verbs in theconductor-vehiclealternation haveconductorandvehiclearguments (controller and controlled entities), a metonymic process can occur, allowing thevehicleexpression to provide access to theconductorparticipant. To explain how metonymy allows a verb with two participants to be integrated into a construction with a single argument, we assume that metonymy (...) gathers information about both entities involved; thevehicleexpression provides mental access to bothvehicleandconductor(“fusion”). We also discuss cognitive and pragmatic factors involving the choice of a construction over another. Constructions withvehicleexpressions as subject are used when thevehicleis salient or theconductoris unknown. This also explains whydirigir“drive” does not alternate in Portuguese, contrarily to prediction and differently from Englishdrive. We provide a comparative account of the behavior of this verb in both languages.Dirigir, differently fromdrive, conceptualizes semantic components incompatible with a situation in which the agent/conductoris not salient or is unknown. This research adds to the ongoing body of literature on the role of metonymy in grammar and is a contribution to the understanding of the metonymic process, as a fusion, and also to argument alternation processes and lexical-constructional integration. (shrink)

A crise sanitária global provocada pela Covid-19 impôs um cenário crítico de escassez de recursos médicos. As pessoas com deficiência, nessas circunstâncias, são sujeitadas a maior vulnerabilidade do que ocorreria em circunstâncias normais. À luz dessa realidade, nos propomos a apresentar alguns critérios de alocação de recursos empregados durante a crise, destacando seu caráter nocivo para às pessoas com deficiência, e analisar de que forma o princípio da não-discriminação pode, se tomado como referência, contribuir para a reflexão ética e política (...) sobre os protocolos de racionamento. (shrink)

Este artigo resulta de um esforço compartilhado que busca inspiração no diálogo hermenêutico como recurso à imaginação criativa e uma forma de enriquecer o trabalho com as tecnologias da educação. A intenção é analisar, reflexivamente, os estudos de Ricoeur, Gadamer e Habermas realizados acerca da fenomenologia e da hermenêutica, no sentido de contribuir para a superação da postura descritiva e autoexplicativa inscrita nos discursos pedagógicos. Trata-se de verificar, através da compreensão hermenêutica, as possibilidades para a busca de sentido da ação (...) educativa e, em consequência, para a compreensão do hiato entre o saber pedagógico racional e os novos saberes veiculados pelas tecnologias digitais. O debate problematiza a transição de um paradigma tradicional para a abordagem complexa da integração entre o saber pedagógico e a emergência da virtualidade. (shrink)

In his lifelong effort to overcome the limits of Panofsky’s iconological method, Max Imdahl tried to sketch out an «iconic understanding» which is pre-reflexive, performed below the level of conceptual and verbal explication. Under the auspices of Konrad Fiedler’s theoretical position, Imdahl opposed the Panofskian «recognizing view» with a more formalistic «seeing view», in order to gain access to a third form of vision which he called «knowing view». After outlining Imdahl’s critic of the reduced and unilateral significance of «form» (...) and «formal composition» in Panofsky’s approach, I will clarify how far Imdahl has gone in the analysis of what should be properly defined as an authentic logic of images . Then, focusing on a paradigmatic case study, I will show the importance of the syntax of an image (i.e. the positioning of its elements on the left or on the right, underneath or above, in the back or in the front) for its semantic meaning. (shrink)

What Makes That Black? The African American Aesthetic in American Expressive Culture delineates the African-American aesthetic in both the African-American culture and the artistic cultural formation of the United States. It presents a definition of the African-American aesthetic using a typology of seventy-four tenets-markers that expand the aesthetic's definition to include its artistic structure, cultural function, and consciousness.¿The book is both anecdotal and scholarly, creating an accessible dialogue in a research area sometimes burdened by excessive scholarly nomenclature. The power of (...) story (art) reaches into cognitive spaces and impact understandings unreachable by linear academic argument. ¿Physical features such as images, links to visual media, glossary, bibliography, and index make the project easier for teachers/students to use.¿The book approaches the African-American Aesthetic from wide-ranging sources, cross-referencing literature, dance, oration, music, dress, sub-Saharan African aesthetics, scholarly text, visual arts, athletics, children's games, and anecdotal accounts. (shrink)

Tradução de uma carta do filósofo George Berkeley, publicada originalmente no Philosophical Transactions, boletim oficial da Royal Society, de Londres, em outubro de 1717. No extrato da carta aqui traduzida sobre as erupções do Vesúvio Berkeley revela­-se um observador curioso e preciso. É notável, acima de tudo, a qualidade literária do seu texto, uma característica que seus trabalhos anteriores, especialmente os Três diálogos entre Hylas e Philonous, de 1713, já haviam revelado. Essa talvez seja uma das principais razões que fazem (...) da carta um documento histórico-científico de permanente interesse. (shrink)

Current debates about the integration of traditional and academic ecological knowledge struggle with a dilemma of division and assimilation. On the one hand, the emphasis on differences between traditional and academic perspectives has been criticized as creating an artificial divide that brands TEK as “non-scientific” and contributes to its marginalization. On the other hand, there has been increased concern about inadequate assimilation of Indigenous and other traditional perspectives into scientific practices that disregards the holistic nature and values of TEK. The (...) aim of this article is to develop a practice-based account of the epistemic relations between TEK and AEK that avoids both horns of the dilemma. While relations between TEK and AEK are often described in terms of the “holistic” nature of the former and the “mechanistic” character of the latter, we argue that a simple holism–mechanism divide misrepresents the epistemic resources of both TEK and AEK. Based on the literature on mechanistic explanations in philosophy of science, we argue that holders of TEK are perfectly capable of identifying mechanisms that underlie ecological phenomena while AEK often relies on non-mechanistic strategies of dealing with ecological complexity. Instead of generic characterizations of knowledge systems as either mechanistic or holistic, we propose to approach epistemic relations between knowledge systems by analyzing their heuristics in practice. (shrink)

RESUMO -/- Este artigo discute duas variedades de interpretação para a teoria moral de Hume. De um lado, ela é representada como uma forma de subjetivismo e, de outro, como uma forma de realismo. Ao final, é proposto que esta filosofia pode ser melhor descrita como uma forma de intersubjetivismo. -/- ABSTRACT -/- This paper discusses two varieties of interpretations of Hume's moral theory. On the one side the attempt to represent Hume's moral theory as a form of the moral (...) subjectivism, on the other, as a form of realism. Finally, propose that Hume's moral philosophy may be rather described as a form of the intersubjectivism. (shrink)