I develop two different epistemic roles for emotion and desire. Caring for moral ends and people plays a pivotal though contingent role in ensuring reliable awareness of morally salient details; possession of various emotions and motives is a necessary condition for autonomous understanding of moral concepts themselves. Those who believe such connections compromise the "objective" status of morality tend to assume rather than argue for the bifurcated conception of reason and affect this essay challenges.

The Caribbean Philosophical Association’s project of shifting the geography of reason requires five specific commitments of attunement: (1) to the languages we use, (2) to our expressive and perceptive capacities, (3) to the communities in which we are engaged and the ones we aspire to engage within, (4) to building culture through political struggle, and (5) to our situatedness and irreducible interconnectedness. Each of these commitments is developed toward identifying the mutually constructive relationship between communicology and creolization.

This article offers a critique of Thomas Scanlon's well-known account of promissory obligation by reference to the rights of promisees. Scanlon's account invokes a moral principle, the "principle of fidelity". Now, corresponding to a promisor's obligation to perform is a promisee's right to performance. It is argued that one cannot account for this right in terms of Scanlon's principle. This is so in spite of a clause in the principle relating to the promisee's "consent", which might have been thought to (...) do the trick. Most likely this argument can be applied to all "moral principle" accounts of promissory obligation. An alternative both to these and to "social practice" accounts is needed. (shrink)

Fifteen original essays open up a novel area of inquiry: the distinctively ethical dimensions of women's experiences of and in aging. Contributors distinguished in the fields of feminist ethics and the ethics of aging explore assumptions, experiences, practices, and public policies that affect women's well-being and dignity in later life. The book brings to the study of women's aging a reflective dimension missing from the empirical work that has predominated to date. Ethical studies of aging have so far failed to (...) emphasize gender. And feminist ethics has neglected older women, even when emphasizing other dimensions of 'difference.' Finally work on aging in all fields has focused on the elderly, while this volume sees aging as an extended process of negotiating personal and social change. (shrink)

For Ockham and Wittgenstein the analysis of knowledge is based on language. Both authors uphold the conception of the world from a logical-philosophical dimension configured by the close thought-language relationship. This construct is developed on the basis of the following three aspects: first, concepts are signs of things; second, propositions describe “state of affairs”; and third, knowledge in terms of “habits” is expressed in propositions structured in terms of the “uses” of language. These propositions are established by the thought considered (...) as “activity” and “operation of signs”. By analyzing certain a priori propositions, we recognize the very boundaries of the thought-language relationship, wherein the existential problems of mankind are revealed, whether out of the human tendency of explaining the world as a whole or out of the human attitude in the face of it. (shrink)

Proponents of ground, which is used to indicate relations of ontological fundamentality, insist that ground is a unified phenomenon, but this thesis has recently been criticized. I will first review the proponents' claims for ground's unicity, as well as the criticisms that ground is too heterogeneous to do the philosophical work it is supposed to do. By drawing on Aristotle's notion of homonymy, I explore whether ground's metaphysical heterogeneity can be theoretically accommodated while at the same time preserving its proponents' (...) desideratum that it be a unified phenomenon. (shrink)

In a well-known series of articles, Norman Daniels has drawn a contrast between wide reflective equilibrium and a more traditional method of theory acceptance in ethics that would be employed by a sophisticated moral intuitionist. The more traditional method is geared towards achieving a narrow equilibrium, or ‘an ordered pair of a set of considered moral judgments acceptable to a given person P at a given time, and a set of moral principles that economically systematizes.’ Although we might achieve narrow (...) reflective equilibrium by deducing particular moral judgments from self-evident moral principles, the more plausible approach is to start from our particular moral judgments. Here we begin by screening our intial moral judgments to eliminate those in which we have little confidence and those made under circumstances conducive to error. We then search for general moral principles that best account for the remaining ‘considered’ moral judgments. (shrink)

Feminist discussions of ethics in the Western philosophical tradition range from critiques of the substance of dominant moral theories to critiques of the very practice of "doing ethics" itself. I argue that these critiques really target a certain historically specific model of ethics and moral theory-a "theoretical-juridical" one. I outline an "expressive-collaborative" conception of morality and ethics that could be a politically self-conscious and reflexively critical alternative.

A high level of citizen involvement in civic life is presumed crucial to the well-being of democracy, but the actual discourse of citizen involvement has rarely been analyzed. This article analyzes citizen participation in the school board meetings of one US community that was in the midst of conflict. After providing background on education governance practices and the community that was studied, citizen participation is examined. Citizen commentaries at school board meetings are shown to be a distinct speech genre and (...) the genre is described. Then, we characterize the discourse practices used to express negative sentiment. Feeling-limned description, avowal of feelings, rhetorical questions, reported speech, use of god and devil terms, and using meeting rules as weapons were the main negative sentiment strategies. In the conclusion we suggest when low levels of citizen involvement should be acceptable, and why `reasonable hostility' is a desirable form of citizen expression. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Negotiating Maternal IdentityAdrienne Rich’s Legacy for Inquiry into the Political-Philosophical Dimensions of Pregnancy and ChildbirthCandace JohnsonGiving birth has been described as the crossing of an imaginary threshold, which separates an independent maternal self from some sort of dual or subordinate existence. The metaphor of a border has also been employed to demonstrate this transformation, which may be liberating, oppressive, or some complex combination thereof (Weir 2006; Martinez 2004). (...) What happens, in psychic and sociopolitical terms, in the journey across this border? Can a woman, as an independent, autonomous being, preserve her identity, her selfhood as a mother? Is the transition to motherhood an expression of culture or nature? The answers to these questions are infinitely complex, yet are at the core of philosophical, political, and personal explorations of the maternal. Central to these explorations are academic critiques and personal responses to the biomedical mediation of the transition to motherhood. For some women, medical intervention in pregnancy and childbirth is inherently oppressive, whereas for other women such intervention is a marker of privilege. In a groundbreaking volume published in 1998, Margaret Lock and Patricia Kaufert argue that women respond to different biomedical interventions in pragmatic ways, which reflect their lived experiences. They claim that “it is more appropriate to understand women’s responses in medical settings as reflecting their daily experiences as part of a domestic group, a community, or a society” (19). [End Page 65]I would like to advance this analysis by suggesting that women respond to biomedical intervention in pregnancy and childbirth in ways that reflect not simply their practical needs and realities, but important details about inequality and identity. Women’s relative degrees of power and agency in society are expressed through their preferences for care during pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, and in connection with the (structural) dynamics of inequality, these preferences reflect the complexities of shifting, negotiated, maternal identities. In order to consider the ways in which women negotiate maternal identity through their preferences concerning care during pregnancy and childbirth, I will examine the contributions of Adrienne Rich, which effectively serve as the foundation for this and countless other areas of women’s and gender studies. In Of Woman Born, Rich dedicates two full chapters to childbirth, and explains in these chapters that the institution of childbirth has come to dominate and eclipse women’s experiences. Moreover, the patriarchal circumscription of childbirth is reinforced by the isolation of childbirth (and motherhood) from other life events. Rich demonstrates these problems through the metaphor of “giving birth to oneself ” (29), which has (at least) two distinct meanings: self actualization and self replacement.My investigation into these meanings will include an examination of Rich’s philosophical treatment of pregnancy and childbirth and an assessment of the sociopolitical implications of both conceptions of “giving birth to oneself.” I will then subject these conceptions to empirical testing, as Rich insists. Such empirical testing is crucial because the social and political dimensions of the institutions of childbirth and motherhood are complex and differ from one context to the next. Rich explains that[t]o hold power over others means that the powerful is permitted a kind of short-cut through the complexity of human personality. He does not have to enter intuitively into the souls of the powerless, or to hear what they are saying in their many languages, including the language of silence. Colonialism exists by virtue of this short-cut—how else could so few live among so many and understand so little?(65)This essay will avoid a similar shortcut often taken by theorists, which builds philosophical arguments without empirical support. The empirical cases to be considered in the context of philosophical debate include Canada, Honduras, and Cuba, and details of each case will be drawn from extensive interview data from a larger empirical study.1 In the Canadian context, resistance to the constraining effects of motherhood as institution is reduced to resistance to medical regulation of pregnancy and childbirth. The benefit indicated by this resistance is that women have found ways to expand their range of options and reinterpret the birthing event, thereby integrating it into other realms [End Page 66... (shrink)

In this paper I argue for a distinction between subjective and value laden aspects of judgements showing why equating the former with the latter has the potential to confuse matters when the goal is uncovering the influence of political influences on scientific practice. I will focus on three separate but interrelated issues. The first concerns the issue of ‘verification’ in computational modelling. This is a practice that involves a number of formal techniques but as I show, even these allegedly objective (...) methods ultimately rely on subjective estimation and evaluation of different types of parameters. This has implications for my second point which relates to uncertainty quantification—an assessment of the degree of uncertainty present in a particular modelling scenario. I argue that while this practice also involves subjective elements, in no way does that detract from its status as an epistemic exercise. Finally I discuss the relation between accuracy and uncertainty and how each relates to judgements that embody social/ethical/political concerns, in particular those associated with high consequence systems. (shrink)

Some very persuasive arguments have been put forward in recent years in support of the disunity of science. Despite this, one is forced to acknowledge that unification, especially the practice of unifying theories, remains a crucial aspect of scientific practice. I explore specific aspects of this tension by examining the nature of theory unification and how it is achieved in the case of the electroweak theory. I claim that because the process of unifying theories is largely dependent on particular kinds (...) of mathematical structures it is possible to have a theory that displays a degree of unity at the level of theoretical structure without an accompanying ontological unity or reduction. As a result, unity and disunity can coexist not only within science but within the same theory. (shrink)

By observing how fatalism expresses itself in one's daily life, in everything from table manners to shopping to sport, the book proposes ways to limit its influence.

Resumen Este artículo da cuenta de la forma en que el liberalismo del filósofo chileno Jenaro Abasolo (1833-1884), al conceder un rol activo al Estado en la “habilitación de la masa desheredada”, responde al adjetivo “social”. En Abasolo, el deber de asegurar en lo posible la prosperidad de las personas, se sostiene en el derecho natural y en una teología de la historia pan[en]teísta afín al krausismo. Abasolo piensa que la redención del desheredado en naciones aun juveniles debe apoyarse en (...) una forma de Estado “casi socialista”. Esto implica una acción de centralización y de tutela del pueblo que enfrenta a los autores del artículo a la gran dificultad de determinar cómo el autor chileno realiza la transición de una habilitación consumada a través de un buen grado de despotismo, hacia la libertad. Es decir, resulta controversial establecer la factibilidad de la realización de esta vía cuasi socialista a un liberalismo contrafácticamente orientado por el laissez faire. Abstract This article shows how the liberalism of the Chilean philosopher Jenaro Abasolo (1833-1884), by granting an active role to the State in the “empowerment of the disinherited mass”, responds to the adjective “social”. In Abasolo, the duty to ensure as far as possible the prosperity of the people is based on natural law and on a pan[en]theistic theology of history akin to Krausism. Abasolo thinks that the redemption of the disinherited in even juvenile nations must be supported by an “almost socialist” form of state. This implies an action of centralization and guardianship of the people that confronts the authors of the article with the great difficulty of determining how the Chilean author makes the transition from an empowerment consummated through a good degree of despotism, towards freedom. That is to say, it is controversial to establish the feasibility of the realization of this quasi-socialist path to a liberalism counterfactually oriented by laissez faire. (shrink)

Resumen El presente artículo ofrece una interpretación teleológica de la vida consciente y se basa, sobre todo, en la postura fenomenológica de Emmanuel Levinas. Sin embargo, es preciso tener en mente que la fenomenología husserliana está siempre presente como sustrato de ésta. Por ello, a partir de una lectura en que ambas perspectivas se complementan, trazaré un esquema en el que la totalidad de la conciencia se realiza como teleológica y explicaré el papel preponderante que cumple la síntesis en los (...) procesos de constitución para desarrollar los elementos de la ética levinasiana que culminan en una lectura teleológica de la vida consciente. Así, la infinitud con la que Levinas describe el encuentro ético deja de ser sólo una instancia de corte ético-ontológico para describir un momento teleológico.The present paper proposes a teleological interpretation of conscious life based on the phenomenology of Emmanuel Levinas. However, since Husserlian phenomenology serves always as a background for Levinas’s position, I offer a reading in which both views complement each other. First I lay out a scheme in which the totality of consciousness is realized as teleological and then I explain the predominant role played by synthesis in the constitution processes in order to develop the elements of a levinasian ethics culminating in a teleological reading of conscious life. Thus, the infinity with which Levinas describes the ethical encounter ceases to be only an instance of an ethical-ontological dimension to describe a teleological moment as well. (shrink)

Book reviewed in this article: Am I My Parents' Keeper? An Essay on Justice Between the Young and Old. By Norman Daniels.

John Ziman-- the much-missed-- reminds us that 'no man is an island', and takes us to task for working from an individualistic theoretical base. That 'us' includes nearly all social scientists, and most Anglo-American philosophers too. For sure, it includes cognitive scientists, who theorize people in terms of concepts drawn from cybernetics and/or artificial intelligence. (I'll use the term 'computational concepts' broadly, to cover both types.) Indeed, it's a common complaint that cognitive science is overly individualistic.

Se realizó un estudio descriptivo para identificar los procedimientos que utiliza el colectivo de Morfofisiología I de la carrera de Estomatología para evaluar los objetivos educativos de la asignatura. Conformaron el universo todos los estudiantes de primer año de la carrera del curso 2010-2011 y los profesores del colectivo de la asignatura de la Facultad de Estomatología de Camagüey. Se aplicaron encuestas a profesores y estudiantes y guías de observación a las diferentes formas de organización de la enseñanza. Los profesores (...) no aprovechan todas las formas de organización de la enseñanza para calificar los objetivos educativos y predominó el criterio de que se han formado mediante la observación del estudiante y el rendimiento académico al otorgar la nota final de la asignatura. La utilización de indicadores para la evaluación de los objetivos educativos en la asignatura puede constituir una herramienta que facilite este trabajo al colectivo. A descriptive study was done to identify the procedures used by the Morphophysiology I teaching staff of Dentistry in order to evaluate the educative objectives of this subject. The universe was made up of all the first year students in the 2010 - 2011 academic year as well as all the professors of Morphophysiology I in the Faculty of Dentistry in Camag|ey. Professors and students were surveyed. Observation guides were designed to assess the different ways of teaching organizations. The professors of this teaching staff do not take advantage of all the forms of teaching organizations in order to evaluate the educative objectives and the prevalent criterion was that these objectives are being formed by means of the students'observation and their academic efficiency. The use of indicators to evaluate the educative objectives in Morphophysiology I may serve as a tool that facilitates this work. (shrink)

In this article an attempt is made to determine what financial support was given between 1790 and 1815 to some of the principal French scientific institutions situated in Paris. Systematic budgeting was not established until after 1815, so it has not been possible to provide a complete picture of development. The financial and economic background have been surveyed, together with some political arguments for and against investment in science and education. Eight institutions have been chosen as representative of the general (...) situation, and archive sources have been studied to provide, as far as possible, an analysis of their varying budgets. This gives an indication of government attitudes to the financing of science. (shrink)

Filosofía y antropología: interconexiones reúne ensayos en donde ambas disciplinas dialogan sobre cuatro campos vertebrales: conocimiento, lenguaje, política-poder y cultura. Respecto al conocimiento, se articulan las relaciones históricas, sus hermenéuticas y problemas éticos comunes. -/- A propósito del lenguaje, se aborda la construcción simbólica de los artefactos, la pragmática y las implicaciones lógicas en la práctica antropológica. Sobre el poder, se muestran los problemas sobre el pluralismo político, el mal, las feminidades y la transexualidad. En torno a la cultura, se (...) desarrolla la relación entre la arqueología y la estética de la imagen, el sujeto postmetafísico y, finalmente, la revolución y confrontación de la fenomenología en filosofía y antropología. Todos estos temas, recurrentes y emergentes para la antropología, se enriquecen a la luz de los planteamientos filosóficos. -/- El título de este libro busca hacer evidente la relación (las interconexiones) entre dos regímenes de sentido, disciplinas, ciencias, formaciones discursivas y hasta tradiciones académicas que, si bien se distinguen, comparten, no obstante, una zona limítrofe llena de coincidencias. La mayoría de los ensayos aquí reunidos hacen hincapié en la ínter, trans o multidisciplina, en pos de sostener, ilustrar o justificar las interconexiones entre la antropología y la filosofía. -/- El presente volumen resalta estas interconexiones en cuatro áreas específicas: conocimiento, lenguaje, poder y cultura. Destacan tres tipos de interacción posible: 1) respecto de los objetos de estudio; 2) a propósito de los métodos de investigación; y, finalmente, 3) en lo que toca a las diferencias en términos institucionales, donde cada disciplina se distinguiría por el tipo de agregados sociales de profesionales que la integran. (shrink)

A partir de las deficiencias detectadas en la evaluación de los objetivos educativos en la asignatura Morfofisiología I de la carrera de Estomatología, determinadas en un estudio previo realizado en la Facultad de Estomatología de Camagüey, se diseñó una metodología para facilitar a los docentes indicadores que les permitan considerar los objetivos educativos dentro de la evaluación final de los estudiantes. Se incluyen etapas, procedimientos y pasos para la instrumentación de la misma. Se considera que la misma facilitará un juicio (...) de valor más objetivo respecto al cumplimiento de los objetivos educativos. Starting from the analysis of the difficulties found in the evaluation of the educative objectives of the subject Morphophysiology I in the dental career, the findings were taken from a previous study carried out in the dental faculty in Camagüey a methodology was designed to give teacher's parameters to include the educative objectives within the final evaluation of the students. Stages, procedures and steps have to be followed to put it into practice. Its implementation is considered to give a better judgment in the fulfillment of the educative objectives. (shrink)