Lejos de la interpretación de Leon Battista Alberti como prototipo del "hombre universal", GARIN ha reconocido el carácter contradictorio del pensamiento albertiano. En efecto, en la extensa y polifacética obra del humanista genovés coexisten dos visiones antagónicas del hombre y el mundo. A una le corresponde la confianza en la razón, a la otra la constatación del carácter absurdo de la existencia. Este Alberti "sombrío" se expresa en las páginas de Momus y las Intercenales. En ellas, la apelación a una (...) existencia simulada es abordada a través de una risa desacralizadora del ideal humano que alumbró el temprano Renacimiento italiano. Far from the interpretation of Leon Battista Alberti as a prototype of the "universal man", GARIN has analyzed the contradictory nature of Alberti's thought. In fact, in the extensive and versatile work of the Genoese humanist two opposite visions of man and the world coexist: one believes in the power of reason, the other acknowledges the absurdity of life. It is in Momus and the Intercenales that this "somber Alberti" is present. In these texts the appeal to a simulated life is addressed through a form of laughter that demystifies the human ideal of the early Italian Renaissance. (shrink)

This article aims to analyze feminist strategies against digital violence and their relation to performative forms of social justice. Based on new feminist materialisms (Coole & Frost, 2010; Souza, 2019), the article shows how female bodies are at the crossroads in our digital society. On the one hand, they are a target of digital violence because of their political activities, while on the other hand feminist protesters are opening new political possibilities for mobilization. By conducting a digital ethnography with two (...) social collectives located in Mexico City – Luchadoras and Laboratorio de Interconectividades – I argue that embodying and politicizing technologies are strategies to mobilize the body as a political, critical and material category, which reveals a renewed feminist agency in hacking the hegemonic meanings of digital technology and resignifying its materiality in order to politicize it. Furthermore, I argue that based on the body as material category, innovative forms of social justice for feminist collectives emerge. These strategies are related to the critical questioning of technologies to repoliticize digital violence, to render visible the memories and affectations in women’s bodies, as well as to mobilize a new feminist positioning called hackfeminist self-defense. All in all, this article seeks to contribute to understanding the broader issue of feminist politics performing social justice in the digital era. (shrink)

La ingeniería constitucional de Sartori plantea la necesidad analizar la edificación de instituciones jurídico-políticas a través de una técnica de incentivos y castigos. El presente trabajo indaga la existencia o no de incentivos para dirigir la facultad del control disciplinario por parte de la Procuraduría General de la Nación contra el presidente y sus ministros como consecuencia de un poder legislativo pasivo en esa actividad debido a un régimen presidencialista que mezcla las agendas del Congreso y el Presidente. El resultado (...) de este estudio muestra un craso error en el despliegue de la ingeniería constitucional que hizo insipiente el control del Ministerio Público sobre el Gobierno. (shrink)

The following proposal explores and discusses the potential of Cartography as a methodological path in the development of research in Mathematics Education aimed at working with different groups that, in many cases, in addition to finding themselves in various situations of vulnerability and social neglect – taken in their potentiality of life –, are not necessarily linked to formal or informal academic training spaces, such as schools or universities. To this end, we begin with a general presentation of the doctoral (...) research carried out by five members of the research group Coletivo Cronopies+ (cronopiando.org) and, in addition, we invite the participants of the session to visit the first Hip Hop House in Brazil in Diadema/SP, which constitutes one of the settings that make up the fieldwork of one of the research projects presented. The research we share involves working with a Hip Hop cultural center in Piracicaba/São Paulo (SP), a Guarani-Kaiowá indigenous village in Coronel Sapucaia/Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), a traveling school in a Landless Workers’ Movement camp in Porecatu/Paraná (PR), a rural settlement school in Nova União/Rondônia (RO) and three collectives that operate with gender in the region of Rio Claro/SP. The construction of this proposal is methodologically based on Cartography, since the discussion aims to produce the field of this research and we propose “fieldwork”. (shrink)

This article ana l yses the birth of some n e w female identities in Latin America, mar k e d b y strong cultural inn o v ation. The process of change has been w on b y political st r uggles that h a v e pe r mitted Latin American w omen to g ain some essential rights. More o v er the t e x t describes the compl e xity of syncretising all Lati n America, (...) but the common elements are more important than the di f ferences. H o w e v e r , accepting this d i v ersit y , the great inequality of basic essentials in the relationships be t w een w omen, is producing one v oice, one discourse and one common demand. F inal l y , it sh o ws the political contradictions in w hich contempora ry Latin America w omen l i v e, summoned to pa r ticipate, as mode r n w omen, in the institutions w hen these same institutions put them in positions of social, political and economic subordination. Despite these di f f iculties, it emphasises the political e xperiments that w omen are ca r r ying out to f ind a syncretism without eliminating cultural d i versit y. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es aportar elementos para construir una compresión de las menores en el sistema de justicia penal que atienda a las discriminaciones específ icas de las que son objeto y que tenga en cuenta los elementos particulares que se dan con relación a las infractoras más jóvenes. En la primera parte del artículo, se indica como la historia ha invisibilizado a las niñas y sus experiencias. El análisis histórico evidencia cómo el control ha constituido un elemento (...) clave en la construcción y percepción de la identidad femenina, particularmente a través de los procesos de socialización de las niñas, cargados de estereotipos y expectativas de lo que se espera de una buena mujer. La segunda parte muestra como la identidad de género atraviesa el sistema de justicia juvenil, que reprodu- ce y amplif ica los sexismos y discriminaciones que las niñas sufren en otros ámbitos. Y por último, se exponen los principales aportes de la criminología feminista, con el fin de comprender la experiencia de las menores en la justicia juvenil. (shrink)

Este artículo considera el tema de las tecnologías de representación de las ruralidades queer en el cine. Las autoras llevan a cabo un análisis pormenorizado de la representación de las disidencias sexuales y de género sostenidas en y a través de espacialidades rurales tomando como objeto de estudio tres piezas fílmicas producidas en el estado español durante las últimas dos décadas, a saber, Ander (2009), 80 Egunean (2010) y Elisa y Marcela (2018). A manera de conclusión, el artículo muestra (...) las tensiones entre dos marcos interpretativos desde los que afrontar los ensamblajes en que se relacionan las ruralidades y las disidencias sexuales y de género. Estos son el enfoque de las ruralidades urbanas que produce epistemologías de carácter identitariamente fuerte, y el enfoque de las ruralidades queer que permite leer las representaciones tomadas en cuenta como figuraciones posidentitarias y subversivas de la disidencia. (shrink)

Egg and sperm have, understandably, been the “stars” of mammalian fertilization biology, particularly because artificial reproductive technologies allow for fertilization to occur outside of the female reproductive tract without other apparent contributions from either sex. Yet, recent research, including an exciting new paper, reveals unexpected and important contributions of seminal plasma to fertility. For example, seminal plasma proteins play critical roles in modulating female reproductive physiology, and a new study in mice demonstrates that effects of some of these proteins on (...) the female can even affect the health of her progeny. Furthermore, although several actions of seminal plasma have been conserved across taxa, male accessory glands and their products are diverse – even among mammals. Taken together, these studies suggest that the actions of seminal plasma components are important to understand, and also to consider in future development of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) for humans, farm species and endangered species of mammals. (shrink)

Este artículo explora la gestualidad multisensorial, háptica y motriz como forma de habitar las atmósferas. Contribuye al desarrollo de epistemologías relacionales sobre la dimensión corporal, al abordar la experiencia corporeizada vivida con entornos aéreos, materiales, ecológicos y sociales, en lugar de centrarse en el significado conceptual y semántico para su explicación. El marco conceptual, se basa en la teoría de las affordances, las ciencias cognitivas enactivas y la fenomenología, que ofrecen una vía para configurar la interacción piel-atmósfera. Consideramos la unidad (...) organismo-entorno y lo que en la literatura se identifica con el concepto de atmósfera sonora. Se introduce la noción de affordances multisensoriales y hápticas como encuentro sensual y atencional de la presencia, para argumentar que tanto el enfoque contemporáneo del cuerpo háptico y gestual con posibilidades afectivas y de movimiento, como la perspectiva estética y ecológico-social de la performatividad -aunque conceptualmente útiles-, pasan por alto la existencia de una fenomenología háptica del reino sensual de las atmósferas. Así, se describe el entrelazamiento de las experiencias sensibles y estéticas con territorios sonoros habitados desde la experiencia táctil. Se discute cómo lo sonoro y la materialidad se utilizan para vivir experiencias particulares del espacio dentro de uno específico: la instalación arpa de fricción. Finalmente, con base en la distinción entre la sensibilidad y la consciencia, se orienta hacia una pedagogía de experiencias háptico-sonoras durante procesos de aprendizaje, útil en contextos de educación corporeizada, estética y crítica. Y se ofrece un lugar para imaginar y escenificar este tipo de entornos de aprendizaje de una manera deliberada, con cualidades permeables, inmersivas, afectivas y colectivas, para acompañar en la co-creación de mundos alternativos. (shrink)

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic, now a global health crisis, has surprised health authorities around the world. Recent studies suggest that the measures taken to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak have generated issues throughout the population. Thus, it is necessary to establish and identify the possible risk factors related to the psychosocial and psychophysiological strain during the COVID-19 outbreak. The present extensive literature review assesses the social, psychological, and physiological consequences of COVID-19, reviewing the impact of quarantine measures, (...) isolation, vast human loss, social and financial consequences in the family’s economies, and its impact on the psychological health of the population. We also discussed the effect of psychophysiological factors, considering the impact of physical inactivity and modifications in nutritional habits, at psychological and physiological levels. The present review includes an actualized to date bibliography, articles for which were methodologically analyzed to verify they met the standards of quality and scientific accuracy. Authors understand the pandemic as a multifactorial event for which only a profound and extensive analysis would lead to better compression and efficient intervention in the near future. (shrink)

As we know, the sacred books of the three religions are not characterized by a gender-friendly approach. In the very beginning of the Old Testament we find the tale of the Fall of Man, where the serpent tempts Eve, who in turn tempts Adam to commit the original sin: to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Eve’s guilt is taken for granted, and rarely discussed. The question of Eve’s guilt was first taken up in Augustine’s De Genesi ad (...) Litteram, and was then later further systematized in Peter Lombard’s Sentences. Isotta Nogarola was a pioneer in taking this discussion beyond university walls, to the intellectual Veronese circles. When Isotta Nogarola pleads for Eve’s case in her Dialogue on the Equal or Unequal Sin of Adam and Eve, she may not be the first to defend Eve, but she has the merit of being a woman who is pleading for a woman’s case. We examine the background of this discussion in Isotta, focusing especially on the scholastic antecedents to this debate. Although most of the quotations cited by Isotta are attributed to early Christian and pagan authors—sources that are typical of humanistic literature—we will demonstrate that many of them are in fact taken from scholastic sources discussing original sin, which are the true immediate sources of Isotta’s dialogue. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue for two main hypotheses. First, that self-control is not a natural mental kind and, second, that there is no dedicated mechanism of self-control. By the first claim, I simply mean that those behaviors we label as “self-controlled” are a somewhat arbitrarily selected hodgepodge that do not have anything in common that distinguishes them from other behaviors. In other words, self-control is a gerrymandered property that does not correspond to a natural mental or psychological kind. By (...) the second claim, I mean that self-controlled behaviors are not produced by a mechanism that is not utilized in the production of other behaviors. Not only is there no natural mental property of self-control, there is no mechanism that is dedicated to producing self-controlled behavior. I further evaluate whether this account of self-control has enough explanatory power to account for a range of phenomena related to self-control. I argue that my account does a better job of explaining these phenomena than accounts which appeal to a dedicated self-control mechanism. (shrink)

Situations are powerful: the evidence from experimental social psychology suggests that agents are hugely influenced by the situations they find themselves in, often without their knowing it. In our paper, we evaluate how situational factors affect our reasons-responsiveness, as conceived of by John Fischer and Mark Ravizza, and, through this, how they also affect moral responsibility. We argue that the situationist experiments suggest that situational factors impair, among other things, our moderate reasons-responsiveness, which is plausibly required for moral responsibility. However, (...) even though we argue that situational factors lower the degree of our reasons-responsiveness, we propose that agents remain moderately reasons-responsive to the degree required for moral responsibility. Nonetheless, those affected by situational factors are arguably less morally responsible than those who are not subject to similar situational factors. We further evaluate an understanding of reasons-responsiveness which relativizes reasons-responsiveness to agents’ circumstances. We argue that the situationist data do not warrant this kind of divergence from Fischer’s and Ravizza’s account. We conclude by discussing what situationist experiments tell us about our relationship to non-reasons. (shrink)

En este artículo, nos preguntamos si es pertinente un análisis del personaje de Medea de Eurípides, y más concretamente, de su filicidio, a la luz de la doctrina aristotélica de la acción. Resulta dudoso, y quizás equívoco, hablar de "responsabilidad" (en sentido aristotélico) en el caso de la heroína, ya que sus motivaciones, como las de todo héroe trágico, tienen un doble signo: enfrentado a una ἀνάγκη superior, también desea lo que está forzado a hacer. Además, Medea no es una (...) mujer común: es un personaje ontológicamente complejo que participa, más de lo que frecuentemente se ha enfatizado, del plano divino. In this article we wonder if it is pertinent to analyse the character of Euripides' Medea and, more precisely, her filicide, in the light of Aristotle's doctrine of action. With regard to the heroine, it is doubtful and perhaps confusing to talk about "responsibility" (in Aristotelian terms) because her motivations, as all tragic heroes', are two-sided: faced to a superior ἀνάγκη he wants what he is forced to do as well. In addition, Medea is not an ordinary woman: she is an ontologically complex character that has a share in the divine level, a share which is more crucial than what has usually been emphasized. (shrink)

When using sample data to decide whether two populations differ, laypeople attend to the difference between group means, but largely overlook within-group variability (Obrecht, Chapman, & Gelman, 2007). We show, first, that laypeople know about and use story-implied variability when making pairwise comparisons. Then we demonstrate that participants' sensitivity to variance in a dataset is boosted when presented in a context that implies consistent variance information. Statistical data were couched in stories about electrical conductivity measurements obtained from element samples (low-variability (...) category) or body weight measurements from samples of peoples (high-variability category). We manipulated, between participants, whether the data variance matched or mismatched the story-implied variability. Participants who received data in a matching context showed high sensitivity to variance, while those in the mismatching condition did not. Laypeople use statistical data to make reasonable inferences when those data are provided in a context that makes sense. (shrink)

En el presente trabajo examino la tesis de José María Sauca sobre la “liquidez constitucional” y las cláusulas de este tipo que identifica en la Constitución Española. Propondré analizarlas a la luz de la tesis de la cláusula alternativa tácita presentada por Kelsen.

Este texto analisa três artigos que tratam sobre os ‘usos políticos do passado’ em diferentes momentos das histórias nacionais de El Salvador, Guatemala e Chile. O exame desses textos permite refletir sobre os caminhos escolhidos para a escrita das histórias nacionais durante os pós-guerras e como a hegemonia de uma interpretação histórica pode levar ao silêncio ou a deslocamentos de outras interpretações. Também é analisado o papel dos autores nessas disputas pela memória e história.

La antropología trascendental es la fundamentación materialista del idealismo revolucionario de Marx. Expondré esta tesis en tres momentos principales, en el primero describo el marco crítico o conceptual común a la teoría de la revolución y el trascendentalismo, concretamente sobre las ideas de ciencia, naturaleza y vida en Marx y en Husserl. La crítica de la deshumanización de la praxis científica desemboca —en Husserl— en la restitución del valor científico del sujeto de los procesos vitales, la conciencia de un cuerpo (...) explotado, dimensión que exploro en el segundo apartado como reconducción del decurso histórico-evolutivo del capital, al sujeto de la revolución como sujeto encarnado, hambriento, explotado. En la tercera, y última parte, sitúo ese concepto de subjetividad trascendental concreta, encarnada o histórica, en la base del concepto de género humano del que se sirve Marx para trazar la meta revolucionaria de la humanidad, su universalización. Palabras clave: materialismo, trascendentalismo, subjetividad, revolución. (shrink)

The result of Hannah Arendt’s study of bourgeois revolutions reflects not only the contradictions and dichotomies of her thought, but is an important diagnosis of the impact of liberal policies, their contradictions and evolution within the history of democracy. Modern republicanism, although critical of liberalism, assimilated elements inherent to liberal democracy, for example, the importance of the law, always imputed based on ideological political precepts of its time. The relevance of this analysis allows us not only to understand the bases (...) of the philosopher’s political thought, but its development in what she calls: public space. This must be a place for the expression of opinions, and therefore, for Arendt, without plurality, politics and public freedom are compromised to the extent that they make it impossible to maintain a space for the realization of freedom. However, in an unequal world, who can exercise their citizenship freely in public space? Was the liberal promise capable of providing these guarantees? In dialogue with Habermas and beyond, we intend with this investigation to outline the weaknesses of a bourgeois notion of the public sphere and to enunciate the urgency of building an ideal of republicanism based on popular demands. (shrink)

O reconhecimento é um conceito normativo. Ao reconhecermos alguém como portador de determinadas características ou capacidades, reconhecemos seu status normativo e estamos assumindo responsabilidade por tratar este alguém de determinada forma. O não reconhecimento, neste caso, pode significar privação de direitos e marginalização; em uma democracia pode impossibilitar indivíduos ou grupos de desfrutar o ideal igualitário democrático, por exemplo. Nas últimas três décadas, a reflexão sobre esta categoria se aprofundou e assumiu maior importância no debate entre liberalismo e comunitarismo em (...) paralelo às demandas, por vezes pelas conquistas, de grupos e minorias que se sentem não reconhecidos e se engajam em movimentos políticos através de lutas por reconhecimento. Retomaremos, aqui, o desenvolvimento do conceito de “eticidade” empreendido por Axel Honneth em Luta por reconhecimento, obra fundamental para a reflexão sobre o tema. O autor situa sua teoria no meio termo entre a moral kantiana e as éticas comunitaristas: sua concepção é formal por entender que normas universais são condições de algumas possibilidades, mas é substantiva por se orientar pelo fim da autorrealização humana. (shrink)

I argue that we do not intentionally and rationally shape our character and values in major ways. I base this argument on the nature of transformative experiences, that is, those experiences which are transformative from personal and epistemological points of view. The argument is roughly this. First, someone who undergoes major changes in her character or values thereby undergoes a transformative experience. Second, if she undergoes such an experience, her reasons for changing in a major way are inaccessible to her (...) beforehand. Third, if such reasons are inaccessible beforehand, she cannot act on them and thus cannot rationally and intentionally shape her character or values. I also explore some consequences of my argument, especially those related to control and responsibility. (shrink)

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic prompted the need for a teleneuropsychology protocol for the cognitive assessment of older adults, who are at increased risk for both COVID-19 and dementia. Prior recommendations for teleneuropsychological assessment did not consider many of the unique challenges posed by COVID-19. The field is still in need of clear guidelines and standards of care for the assessment of older adults under the current circumstances. Advantages of teleneuropsychological assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic include reduced risk of contracting (...) the virus, eliminating travel time and reducing cost, and more rapid access to needed services. Challenges include disparities in technology access among patients, reduced control over the testing environment, impeded ability to make behavioral observations, and limited research on valid and reliable cognitive assessment measures. The aim of this perspective review is to propose a teleneuropsychological protocol to facilitate neuropsychological assessment utilizing a virtual platform. The proposed protocol has been successful with our clinical and research populations and may help neuropsychologists implement teleneuropsychology services without compromising validity or reliability. However, there is increasing need for research on teleneuropsychological assessment options for both clinical and research purposes. (shrink)

Este artigo traz uma reflexão sobre como e por que a Guerra Guasu ou Guerra da Tríplice Aliança permanece na memória dos paraguaios como parte da identidade nacional. Partindo-se do pressuposto de que o Paraguai teve que atravessar por um processo de reconstrução simbólica após a derrota de 1870, se analisam as diferentes ressignificações dos mitos consagrados pelos revisionistas, ao longo do século XX, com o objetivo de identificar de que maneira esses mitos permearam as práticas políticas e culturais.

Situationism is, roughly, the thesis that normatively irrelevant environmental factors have a great impact on our behaviour without our being aware of this influence. Surprisingly, there has been little work done on the connection between situationism and moral luck. Given that it is often a matter of luck what situations we find ourselves in, and that we are greatly influenced by the circumstances we face, it seems also to be a matter of luck whether we are blameworthy or praiseworthy for (...) our actions in those circumstances. We argue that such situationist moral luck, as a variety of circumstantial moral luck, exemplifies a distinct and interesting type of moral luck. Further, there is a case to be made that situationist moral luck is perhaps more worrying than some other well-discussed cases of moral luck. (shrink)

This paper analyzes Dolores's case of collective spirit possession as a paroxysmic form of possession idiom, serving as a powerful and creative internal mechanism that both safeguards and revitalizes the core structure of ancestor worship. Drawing on my ethnographic research in North Honduras since 2009, my study reveals that rather than leading to the erosion of possession rituals, entropic forces, such as resistance, modernity, and impiety serve as vital resources, reinforcing the foundations of ancestor worship. This paper explores possession idioms (...) and striking events, such as contagion, abduction, dramatization, illness, and death to highlight the resilience of a possession-based religion as a self-sustaining total social system rooted in “tradition,” yet shaped by a dynamic interplay of historical, cultural, and personal experiences. While traditional interpretations of spirit possession have viewed possession cults as forms of protest against hegemonic power—“a weapon of the weak” used to gain respect and process trauma—I suggest that spirit possession is multifaceted, ambiguous and underdetermined, operating within a social theater where critique, social irony, impiety, historical consciousness, and the carnivalesque intersect. (shrink)

I argue against elements of Alfred Mele’s picture of the nature of intentions and the triggers of intentional actions. Mele (Philosophical Studies 176:2833–2853, 2019) offers rebuttals to my (Herdova, Philosophical Studies, 173(3), 573–587, 2016; Herdova, Philosophical Explorations, 21(3):364–383, 2018) and Ann Bumpus’s (2001) arguments which limit the scope of proximal intentions as triggers of intentional actions. Here I offer a response to Mele and provide further arguments in favor of my alternative understanding of intentions and the causes of intentional actions. (...) Contra Mele, I argue for the following interrelated theses. First, intentions, including proximal intentions, have an array of functions or dispositions beyond that of triggering intentional actions. Second, states other than proximal intentions can trigger at least some types of intentional actions. Therefore, it is not the case that all intentional actions need to be triggered by proximal intentions. (shrink)

La escritura para la reflexión pedagógica es una competencia profesional docente que debe ser desarrollada durante la formación inicial para que, posteriormente, pueda ser aplicada en diversos contextos educativos, enriqueciendo así el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje tanto del propio profesor como de los estudiantes con los que este interactúa. El ámbito de formación práctica es un espacio curricular donde esta competencia asume mayor preponderancia, pues el futuro profesor debe transferir diversos conocimientos teóricos hacia el ejercicio de aula. Bajo este (...) contexto, es posible reconocer la producción y circulación de ciertos géneros escritos específicos que dan cuenta de esta competencia. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo principal caracterizar, desde una perspectiva socioretórica, los géneros de reflexión pedagógica que escriben los estudiantes de dos carreras de pedagogía de una universidad chilena durante su formación práctica. Desde un enfoque metodológico cualitativo y con un diseño de Estudios de Casos Múltiples, se aplicaron dos instrumentos de recolección de datos: entrevistas semiestructuradas y focus group a profesores y estudiantes de la carrera de Educación Especial y Educación Parvularia. Entre los principales resultados destacan el reconocimiento de la escritura como un recurso que recoge la reflexión pedagógica de los profesores en formación; la utilización de determinados géneros pedagógicos en cada carrera y además la existencia de una progresión en el uso de estos de acuerdo a la complejidad y avance en el recorrido formativo del Plan de Estudios. (shrink)

Este artículo tiene como objetivo desarrollar el concepto de voluntad en Pietro Pomponazzi, utilizando como texto central de análisis su tratado _De fato, libero arbitrio et praedestinatione_. Siguiendo la dinámica propia del pensamiento del autor, se exploran los alcances y limitaciones de la voluntad en el ámbito de la razón natural y la teología. Estos dos campos, delimitados con claridad y frecuentemente en conflicto en la obra de Pomponazzi, constituyen el fundamento para comprender las sutilezas de la voluntad. La presentación (...) se divide en dos momentos: el primero aborda la voluntad en el ámbito de la razón natural y el segundo se adentra en su dimensión teológica. Por último, se adjunta la traducción de la _quaestio _“Utrum detur voluntas agens” del MS París, BnF, lat. 6449. (shrink)

Este artículo indaga, fundamentalmente, en los posibles vínculos que puedan establecerse entre las condiciones materiales y procedimientos escriturales de La filial de Matías Celedón y el concepto «muerte del autor» (1968) de Roland Barthes. También revisa la estructura y la atmósfera burocrática y agobiante de la oficina en la que se desarrolla la trama, planteando una comparación con dos obras clásicas sobre el tema: Bartleby el escribiente (1853) y Bouvard y Pécuchet (1880). Finalmente, alude a referentes de la poesía experimental (...) como Martín Gubbins, Guillermo Deisler, Elsa Werth y Sergio Chejfec, entre otros, con el objetivo de perfilar una suerte de «escritura de oficina» que trasciende las diferencias habituales entre los géneros narrativo y poético. (shrink)

Given one conception of biological individuality (evolutionary, physiological, etc.), can a holobiont – that is the host + its symbiotic (mutualistic, commensalist and parasitic) microbiome – be simultaneously a biological individual and an ecological community? Herein, we support this possibility by arguing that the notion of biological individuality is part‐dependent. In our account, the individuality of a biological ensemble should not only be determined by the conception of biological individuality in use, but also by the biological characteristics of the part (...) of the ensemble under investigation. In the specific case of holobionts, evaluations of their individuality should be made either host‐relative or microbe‐relative. We support the claim that biological individuality is part‐dependent by drawing upon recent empirical evidence regarding the physiology of hosts and microbes, and the recent characterization of the ‘demibiont’. Our account shows that contemporary disagreements about the individuality of the holobiont derive from an incorrect understanding of the ontology of biological individuality. We show that collaboration between philosophers and biologists can be very fruitful in attempts to solve some contemporary biological debates. (shrink)

Alfred Mele presents an influential argument for incompatibilism which compares an agent, Ernie, whose life has been carefully planned by the goddess Diana, to normal deterministic agents. The argument suggests both that Ernie is not free, and that there is no relevant difference between him and normal deterministic agents in respect of free will. In this paper, I suggest that what drives our judgement that Ernie is not free in the Diana case is that his actions are merely an extension (...) of Diana's—he is akin to a tool, which she uses solely for her own purposes, and his behaviour occurs only because of the interest Diana takes in its occurring. This contrasts with normal deterministic universes, in which normal agents are not such tools. (shrink)

Holobionts are symbiotic assemblages composed by a host plus its microbiome. The status of holobionts as individuals has recently been a subject of continuous controversy, which has given rise to two main positions: on the one hand, holobiont advocates argue that holobionts are biological individuals; on the other, holobiont detractors argue that they are just mere chimeras or ecological communities, but not individuals. Both parties in the dispute develop their arguments from the framework of the philosophy of biology, in terms (...) of what it takes for a “conglomerate” to be considered an interesting individual from a biological point of view. However, the debates about holobiont individuality have important ontological implications that have remained vaguely explored from a metaphysical framework. The purpose of this paper is to cover that gap by presenting a metaphysical approach to holobionts individuality. Drawing upon a conception of natural selection that puts the focus on the transgenerational recurrence of the traits and that supports the thesis that holobionts are units of selection, we argue that holobionts bear emergent traits and exert downward powers over the entities that compose them. In this vein, we argue, a reasonable argument can be made for conceiving holobionts as emergent biological individuals. (shrink)

It is shown that the before-before (or Suarez-Scarani) experiment refutes hidden variable models with a deterministic (“realistic”) nonlocal part, whereas experiments violating Leggett-type inequalities refute models with biased random local part. Therefore the claim that Gröblacher et al. (Nature 446:871–875, 2007) present “an experimental test of nonlocal realism” is misleading, and Marek Żukowski’s (Found. Phys. 38:1070, 2008) comment misses the point. A new experiment is suggested.

Contemporary biological research has suggested that some host–microbiome multispecies systems (referred to as “holobionts”) can in certain circumstances evolve as unique biological individual, thus being a unit of selection in evolution. If this is so, then it is arguably the case that some biological adaptations have evolved at the level of the multispecies system, what we call hologenomic adaptations. However, no research has yet been devoted to investigating their nature, or how these adaptations can be distinguished from adaptations at the (...) species-level (genomic adaptations). In this paper, we cover this gap by investigating the nature of hologenomic adaptations. By drawing on the case of the evolution of sanguivory diet in vampire bats, we argue that a trait constitutes a hologenomic adaptation when its evolution can only be explained if the holobiont is considered the biological individual that manifests this adaptation, while the bacterial taxa that bear the trait are only opportunistic beneficiaries of it. We then use the philosophical notions of emergence and inter-identity to explain the nature of this form of individuality and argue why it is special of holobionts. Overall, our paper illustrates how the use of philosophical concepts can illuminate scientific discussions, in the trend of what has recently been called metaphysics of biology. (shrink)