"This book is D.Z. Phillips' systematic attempt to discuss the problem of evil. He argues that the problem is inextricably linked to our conception of God. In an effort to distinguish between logical and existential problems of evil, that inheritance offers us distorted accounts of God's omnipotence and will. In his interlude, Phillips argues that, as a result, God is ridiculed out of existence, and found unfit to plead before the bar of decency. However, Phillips elucidates a neglected tradition in (...) which we reach a different understanding of God's presence amidst suffering, and addresses the ultimate question of how God can be said to be with those who are crushed by life's afflictions." "An ideal text for students of philosophy, religious studies and theology, but also for anyone who reflects seriously on the danger of adding to human evils by the way in which we write and think about them."--Jacket. (shrink)

"This collection of essays explores Wittgenstein's significance for the philosophy of religion. Through a discussion of language-games, forms of life, and Wittgenstein's strictures against subliming the logic of our language, we are brought to see the importance of emphasising that to reflect on the reality of God is to reflect on a kind of reality. God's reality is a spiritual reality, something ignored in contemporary debates between realism and non-realism which pay little attention to concept-formation in religion." "These conceptual insights (...) are brought to bear on the clash between belief and atheism; the task of understanding religious experience; issues concerning language and ritual; whether evil calls for theodicies which claim to understand and justify the ways of God; and difficulties in talking of miracles in the twentieth century." "The author argues against ambitions to construct a Christian philosophy. In contrast, the flexibility in Wittgenstein's methods helps us to appreciate philosophy's distinctive tasks in relation to religion."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (shrink)

The concern of this book is the nature of religious belief and the ways in which philosophical enquiry is related to it. Six chapters present the positive arguments the author wishes to put forward to discusses religion and rationality, scepticism about religion, language-games, belief and the loss of belief. The remaining chapters include criticisms of some contemporary philosophers of religion in the light of the earlier discussions, and the implications for more specific topics, such as religious education, are investigated. The (...) book ends with a general attempt to say something about the character of philosophical enquiry, and to show how important it is to realise this character in the philosophy of religion. (shrink)

Philosophical Authorship: The Posing of a Problem The nature of philosophy is itself a philosophical problem, a problem as old as philosophy. ...

This book contains essays, written between 1965 and 1990, which focus on the need to explore such issues as the nature of moral endeavor, the request for a justification of moral endeavor; the appeal to human flourishing; the nature of the ...

As the century draws to its close, how should we think of religion? Some see it as the survival in our midst of an outmoded, primitive way of thinking, while others accuse its critics of simply being blind to the meaning of religious belief. From a different perspective, the clash between belief and unbelief is not seen as a matter of identifying incoherent systems of thought, but as a clash between different demands made on us by divergent ways of looking (...) at the world. Criticisms will flow between these perspectives. There is, however, another kind of interest in this situation: an interest in giving just characterizations of these different voices, so that the nature of allegiances and oppositions to religion may be better understood. (shrink)

In congenitally or prelingually deaf childrencochlear implantation is open to seriousethical challenge. The ethical dimension ofthis technology is closely related to both asocial standard of quality of life and to theuncertainty of the overall results of cochlearimplantation. Uncertainty with regards theacquisition of oral communicative skills.However, in the western world, available datasuggest that deafness is associated with thelowest educational level and the lowest familyincome. Notwithstanding the existence of aDeaf-World, deafness should be considered as ahandicap. Therefore, society should provide themeans for the (...) fulfilment of a deaf child'sspecific needs.For the time being there is no definitiveanswer with regard the best way to rehabilitatea particular deaf child. Therefore,communitarian values may be acceptable. If thedeaf child parents' decide not to implant,their decision should be respected. Guardiansare entitled to determine which standard ofbest interest to use in a specificcircumstance. They are the proper judges ofwhat (re)habilitation process is best for theirdeaf child. However, most deaf children areborn to two hearing parents. Probably, theywill not be acculturated in the Deaf-World. Itfollows that cochlear implantation is awelcomed (re)habilitation technology.If auditory (re)habilitation will in the futureprovide the necessary communicative skills, inparticular oral language acquisition, customs,values and attitudes of the hearing worldshould be regarded as necessary to accomplish adeaf child's right to an open future. Ifcochlear implantation technology will provideall deaf children with the capacity to developacceptable oral communicative skills –whatever the hearing status of the family andthe cultural environment – then auditory(re)habilitation will be an ethical imperative. (shrink)

Foundationalism is the view that philosophical propositions are of two kinds, those which need supporting evidence, and those which in themselves provide the evidence which renders them irrefutable. This book, originally published 1988, describes the battle between foundationalism, which places belief in God in the first category, and various other approaches to the problem of faith – ‘Reformed Epistemology’, hermeneutics; and sociological analysis. In the concluding section of the book, an examination of concept formation in religious belief is used to (...) reinterpret the gap between the expressive power of language and the reality of God. (shrink)

As a theory of skill acquisition, the instance theory of automatization posits that, after a period of training, algorithm‐based performance is replaced by retrieval‐based performance. This theory has been tested using alphabet‐arithmetic verification tasks (e.g., is A + 4 = E?), in which the equations are necessarily solved by counting at the beginning of practice but can be solved by memory retrieval after practice. A way to infer individuals’ strategies in this task was supposedly provided by the opportunistic‐stopping phenomenon, according (...) to which, if individuals use counting, they can take the opportunity to stop counting when a false equation associated with a letter preceding the true answer has to be verified (e.g., A + 4 = D). In this case, such within‐count equations would be rejected faster than false equations associated with letters following the true answers (e.g., A + 4 = F, i.e., outside‐of‐count equations). Conversely, the absence of opportunistic stopping would be the sign of retrieval. However, through a training experiment involving 19 adults, we show that opportunistic stopping is not a phenomenon that can be observed in the context of an alphabet‐arithmetic verification task. Moreover, we provide an explanation of how and why it was wrongly inferred in the past. These results and conclusions have important implications for learning theories because they demonstrate that a shift from counting to retrieval over training cannot be deduced from verification time differences between outside and within‐count equations in an alphabet‐arithmetic task. (shrink)

The purpose of this research is to describe the brand image and consumer satisfaction of X Cafe. In addition, this research also describes the difference brand image perceived by satisfied customers and unsatisfied customers. Subject of this research contained 100 persons which included male and female. The data was analyzed using multivariate method with support from SPSS. The result of this research shows that the average score of X Cafe customer satisfaction is under satisfied score due to some unfulfilled hopes (...) toward X Cafe. The brand images perceived by X Café customers who feel satisfied are quiet ambience, good quality drinks, and relaxing place. On the contrary, the brand images perceived by unsatisfied customers are crowded ambience, expensive, and place for reading free newspaper and magazine. (shrink)

Simple epithelial keratins K8 and K18 are components of the intracellular cytoskeleton in the cells of the single‐layered sheet tissues inside the body. As members of the intermediate filament family of proteins, their function has been a matter for debate since they were first discovered. Whilst there is an indisputable case for a structural cell‐reinforcing function for keratins in the mutilayered squamous epithelia of external barrier tissues, some very different stress‐protective features now seem to be emerging for the simple epithelial (...) keratins. Even the emerging evidence of pathological mutations in K8/K18 looks very different from mutations in stratified epithelial keratins. K8/K18‐like keratins were probably the first to evolve and, whilst stratified epithelial (keratinocyte) keratins have diversified into a large group of keratins highly specialised for providing mechanical stability, the simple epithelial keratins have retained early features that may protect the internal epithelia from a broader range of stresses, including osmotic stress and chemical toxicity. BioEssays 25:748–758, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

The scarcity of resources during the COVID‐19 pandemic caused ethical dilemmas in prioritizing patients for treatment. Medical and ethical guidance only emphasizes clinical procedures but does not consider the sociocultural aspect. This study explored the perception of former COVID‐19 patients and their families on the decision‐making process of the patient's selection at a time of scarcity of resources. The result will inform the development of an ethical guide for allocating scarce resources that aligns with Indonesian culture. We conducted qualitative research (...) with in‐depth interviews between May ‐ December 2022 involving sixteen participants from various cities in Indonesia. We transcribed the interviews and analyzed the results using thematic analysis. This study found that doctor's decisions often differed from patient's expectations in allocating scarce resources, and therefore, it should be communicated appropriately. Medical decisions were not sufficiently made ethically, but must also be made communicatively. In Indonesia's strong communal culture, community involvement was essential to distributing limited resources. A better approach to ethical education, including adequate communication skills, is necessary to prepare health professionals for facing unpredictable future pandemics. (shrink)

Is religion necessarily a form of fantasy, a superstitious childishness we should have put aside by now? If so, what takes the place of empty heaven? May idle dreams threaten secular moralities as much as they threaten religion ? If so, are there authentic forms of religion as well as authentic forms of morality which transcend these threats? He takes us on a journey from religion conceived as a 'somewhere over the rainbow, ' to possibilities of living under a sacramental (...) sky. (shrink)

This collection of essays argues that we need to recover concepts from the distortions of philosophy. The author shows the disastrous consequences for an understanding of religion of the epistemic divide which can be found in contemporary philosophy of religion: divides between belief and practice, the world and God, religious experience and religious contexts. By closing these divides, religious significance is given its proper place.

This article focuses on analyzing and identifying the characteristics of losses arising from the marketing and supply of digital tourist accommodation services based on the business competition law system in Indonesia and on the formulation of marketing and supply arrangements for digital tourist accommodation services that are healthy and fair for all tourism accommodation service business actors. normative research methods used in this research, with primary legal materials in the form of laws and regulations related to monopolistic practices and unfair (...) competition. The results of the study show that looking at the characteristics of losses arising from the marketing and supply of digital tourism accommodation services based on the legal system of business competition in Indonesia is considered inappropriate and must be reconceptualized, Furthermore, the regulation of marketing and supply of digital tourist accommodation services that are healthy and fair is still experiencing a vacuum of norms, so it is necessary to formulate the regulation of marketing and supply of tourist accommodation services for all business actors of tourist accommodation services as a means of legal protection in terms of preventing and controlling the potential for unfair business competition practices in the regulation of marketing and supply of digital tourist accommodation services. (shrink)

In his foreword to the Philosophical papers by Hans Hahn, Karl Menger mentions a controversy about the possibility or impossibility to speak about language within the Vienna Circle in the early 1930’s. He then adds: “Waismann proclaimed that one could not speak about language. Hahn took strong exception to this view. Why should one not – if perhaps in a higher-level language – speak about language? To which Waismann replied essentially that this would not fit into the texture of Wittgenstein’s (...) latest ideas.”1 Thanks to the publication of the protocols of the Vienna Circle by Friedrich Stadler in his book The Vienna Circle – Studies in the origins, development and influence of logical empiricism, we have access to some discussions within the circle in the years 1930 and 1931, that allow us a partial reconstruction of the controversy. In these minutes we attend a very lively discussion on the topic of ‘talking about language’. We would like to make more explicit the tenets of this controversy, starting from the discussions within the circle. We will then focus on the evolution of the positions of different members of the Circle, that reflect different attitudes towards this problem, that are expounded in articles published until 1936. Although its members strived to stay the closest, they could to the landmarks laid down by the Tractatus logico-philosophicus, some of its members broke with them in many respects. The need to admit the possibility of talking theoretically about language became more pressing as the works of Tarski and Godel began to exert an influence on the researches of its members. Two options emerged: talking about a language in another language (Hahn) or in the same language (Carnap). Hahn’s positions, despite their originality, stand close to those of Carnap, who presents in 1931 his meta-logical project. Disagreements with Waismann occured frequently. Neurath remained skeptical about such a development that could, according to him, lead back to metaphysical considerations. The protocols by Rosa Rand give us precious insights on the premises of this debate, symptomatic of the diversity of the positions and of the fruitfulness of the exchanges within the Vienna Circle at that time. However, this debate takes place in a broader setting, namely the discussion of the status of philosophical statements once the rejection of metaphysics is accomplished. The answers provided reflect strong dissenting currents within the circle. For Neurath, to conceive of philosophy as providing elucidations is mistaken. Science shall take the form of an encyclopedia, that contains heterogeneous discourses – exact formulated sentences, as well as piece of ordinary language – and is taken in a dynamic process. No discourse outside science can be accepted. For Schlick and Waismann, there is still room for philosophy as providing elucidations about language. For Carnap, the aim is to attain a logically suitable language for science; discussions in a natural language have only a provisional role, in order to attain an adequate language, in which the logic of science can be formulated. (shrink)

This paper describes Stein’s process for establishing the relationship between finite and temporal beings and infinite and eternal beings. Although she contextualized her research in the fields of phenomenology and ontology, Stein surpasses these domains. Following Aquinas, Stein uses the analogy to trace the ascension towards the sense of Being. However, this process ends up being closest to the position of St. Augustine. In fact, the author first draws up a temporal analogy and then a personal analogy starting from two (...) pieces of evidence: the certainty of “I am”, from Augustine, Descartes, and Husserl, and the divine “I am”, according to the name that God reveals of himself: “I am who I am”. Through personal analogy, the author goes beyond phenomenology and ontology, while the category “person” includes both being and an attributed fullness. (shrink)

Founded in Asia, in the third century, by Mani, manicheism constituted, by itself, in a doctrinal viewpoint, in a gnosis that mixed oriental principles of sects/religions, specially from Zoroastrism and Budism, Greek-Roman Philosophy and Christianism. His basic thesis consisted of statement of two ontological principles: Good or Light, presented by the sun, and Evil or Darkness, personified in matter. From this ontological Dualism arose a cosmology/soteriology that presented the salvation history of world in three moments: the first-one, initial, embodies the (...) two principles cosmic origins and their first conflicts. The second-one, medial, is the mixture time is characterized by the downfall of one the Light parts in the matter, as well as it is the universe being creation time. At last, the third-one, final, marks the liberation of all Light particles, imbricated in the matter, meaning the Light return to Father's kingdom and the matter's definitive downfall into the hell. (shrink)

Este artículo pretente estabelecer possível correlação entre os princípios do "sistema epistemológico e metafísico"de Espinosa e as diretrizes da filosofia de Diderot.

Remarkable in the range that it covers, The Possibilities of Sense testifies to an equally remarkable philosopher. In essays on ethics and thephilosophy of religion, on literature and education, the contributors displaynot only the breadth of D.Z. Phillips's work but also its power. This powercomes largely from Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose significance as a moral and religious philosopher rivals his reputation as a philosopher of language.

ANDES, Stephen J.C.; YOUNG, Julia. Local Church, Global Church: Catholic Activism in Latin America from Rerum Novarum to Vatican II. Washington, DC, The Catholic University of America Press, 201 O livro em questão insere-se em uma perspectiva analítica, tentando mostrar o jogo de adaptação e de continuidade ao trabalho no continente americano. Apesar do reconhecimento das mudanças notáveis introduzidas pelo Vaticano II, a tese é que, ao contrário do que é sugerido por uma certa literatura de historiografia e teologia latino-americana, (...) o ativismo católico dos anos 60 e 80 teve suas origens no período anterior, tendo, em parte, como ponto de partida a encíclica Rerum Novarum. (shrink)

Mit der Person Franz Böckle wird ein rationales Ethikkonzept assoziiert. Für den renommierten Lehrer und Berater war die menschliche Selbstaufgegebenheit so zentral, dass wiederholt zu hören war, in Böckles Moraltheologie besitze der Glaube eine nur marginale Funktion. Die nachgelassenen Schriften Böckles, insbesondere einige der unveröffentlichten, widerlegen diesen Eindruck. Sie zeigen einen in der biblischen Theologie verankerten, ökumenisch offenen Theologen, der die geistesgeschichtlichen Weichenstellungen seiner Zeit theologisch interpretiert. Die Studie stellt die kognitive Genese Böckles vor dem Hintergrund der europäischen Zeitgeschichte dar. (...) Unter den Leitbegriffen Glaube - Ethik - Recht werden Vorträge und Publikationen Böckles zu Themen wie ”staatliche Grundwerte“ oder ”Forschungsfreiheit“ untersucht. Es wird sichtbar, dass die Probe auf das Humane nicht nur das theologische Profil der Ethik Böckles auszeichnet, sondern zugleich dazu beiträgt, die Strukturen von Ethik überhaupt im Gegenwartsdiskurs zu fundieren. (shrink)

BackgroundAdvance directives (ADs) were implemented in Portugal in 2012. Although more than a decade has passed since Law 25/2012 came into force, Portuguese people have very low levels of adherence. In this context, this study aimed to identify and analyse the attitudes of people aged 18 or older living in Portugal towards ADs and to determine the relationships between sociodemographic variables (gender/marital status/religion/level of education/residence/whether they were a health professional/whether they had already drawn up a living will) and people’s attitudes (...) towards ADs.MethodsAn online cross-sectional analytical study was conducted using a convenience sample. For this purpose, a request (email) that publicized the link to a –form—which included sociodemographic data and the General Public Attitudes Toward Advance Care Directives (GPATACD) scale—was sent to 28 higher education institutions and 30 senior universities, covering all of mainland Portugal and the islands (Azores and Madeira). The data were collected between January and February 2023.ResultsA total of 950 adults from completed the online form. The lower scores (mean 1 and 2) obtained in most responses by applying the GPATACD scale show that the sample of the Portuguese population has a very positive attitude towards ADs. The data showed that women, agnostics/atheists, health professionals and those who had already made a living will had more positive attitudes (p < 0.001) towards ADs. There were no statistically significant differences in the attitudes of the Portuguese population sample towards ADs in relation to marital status, education level, and residence.ConclusionThe results obtained enable us to confirm that this sample of the Portuguese population has a positive attitude towards ADs. We verify that there are certain fringes of this sample with certain sociodemographic characteristics (women, agnostics/atheists, health professionals and those who had already made a living will) that have a more positive attitude towards ADs. This data could facilitate the implementation and adjustment of relevant measures, particularly in the field of health education and aimed at groups with less favourable attitudes, to increase the effectiveness of voluntary exercise of citizens’ autonomy in end-of-life care planning. (shrink)

Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) is defined as the conscious, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The greater the level of evidence the greater the grade of recommendation. This pioneering explicit concept of EBM is embedded in a particular view of medical practice namely the singular nature of the patient-physician relation and the commitment of the latter towards a specific goal: the treatment and the well being of his or her client. Nevertheless, (...) in many European countries as well as the United States, this integration of the best evidence from systematic research with clinical expertise and patient values appears to be re-interpreted in light of the scarcity of healthcare resources. The purpose of this paper is double. First, to claim that from an ethical perspective EBM should be a guideline to clinical practice; and second, that in specific circumstances EBM might be a useful tool in macro-allocation of healthcare resources. Methodologically the author follows Norman Daniels' theory of democratic accountability to justify this assumption. That is, choices in healthcare must be accountable by democratic procedures. This perspective of distributive justice is responsible for the scope and limits of healthcare services. It follows that particular entitlements to healthcare — namely expensive innovative treatments and medicines —may be fairly restricted as long as this decision is socially and democratically accountable and imposed by financial restrictions of the system. In conclusion, the implementation of EBM, as long as it limits the access to drugs and treatments of unproven scientific results is in accordance with this perspective. The use of EBM is regarded as an instrument to facilitate the access of all citizens to a reasonable level of healthcare and to promote the efficiency of the system. (shrink)

In a presidential speech to philosophers, J. R. Jones addressed the question, 'How do I know who I am?' But how do we know who he was? Different audiences will give different answers. Those who know only his philosophical writings in English will give one kind answer, while those who knew him as an inspirational speaker and leader in the fight to preserve and sustain the Welsh language and its culture, and as a troubler of theological waters, will give a (...) very different answer. As someone who knew him in both contexts, Dewi Z. Phillips argues that there are deep connections between J. R. Jones's major preoccupations with the identity of the self the identity of a nation, and the identity of God. This book will introduce new readers to J. R. Jones's work, and will also introduce his different audiences to each other. (shrink)

: The aim of this research is not to know the relationship between support from husband to their wife at the first parturition and self adjustment. Subjects in this research are 100 pregnant mothers of first child which live in Tangerang. The result is strong positive correlation between support from husband and self adjustment at the first pregnancy.

This article deals with public manifestations of Catholic religious officials, members of the hierarchy and recognized laity, in the context of the discussion of the National Education Plan - PNE. The focus of the analysis is a condemnation of what they call "gender ideology", present in the proposal document. Such manifestations are the reaffirmation of a conception of human beings as subject to the inexorable "laws of nature" that determine a social order marked by the rigid distinction of roles assigned (...) to women and men. The texts published at the time reveal changes and continuities in the Catholic discourse in its reference to "nature", understood in its biological materiality, as an unswerving fact of human reality, consisting in two sexes must unite under the "natural order". Gender theories are blamed by family disintegration, for providing support to new understandings of humanity, no longer based on bipolarity: men / women. A non extensive dossier of these texts formed the basis for the proposed analyzes. (shrink)

A latência é o período do desenvolvimento menos abordado pela literatura psicanalítica e menos compreendido, apesar de corresponder à idade na qual ocorre a maior procura por atendimento psicológico. Além disso, questiona-se um possível encurtamento do período da latência em nossa cultura. Partindo ..

The article described at first conceptual of halal tourism which is based on Islamic Shariah. Second, analyses of halal tourism effectiveness practically. Third, research of Indonesia as biggest Muslim populations in the world provide and serve halal tourism. To research this thing authors used a descriptive analytical research method coupled with literacy techniques. As a summary that halal tourism is growing fast in Indonesia with some special advantages and efforts actually. Evidently, Indonesia has been selected as the best halal tourism (...) in the world by 2019 and the trend of increasing visitors especially from middle east whom mostly Muslim’s travelers to the country. The implications of the research are found relatively new development of halal tourism conceptually and the implications in promoting halal tourism, serving Muslims community to get satisfactions in tourism without deny their belief, halal tourism is a health tourism that provide only foods, beverages and healthy advertisement and also green tourism that secure environment practically. Practical implications there are first, promote halal tourism. Second, serve Muslims community to get satisfactions in tourism without deny their belief and Islamic tennets. Third, halal tourism is a health tourism that provide only foods, beverages and healthy advertisement and green tourism that secure environment. The article is original as a result of a research in international issue that concern of halal tourism which service tourists specially for Muslims, and also offers new platform in tourism business. (shrink)

Charles Peirce provided a few, but interesting we believe, remarks about metaphor. Aristotle on the other hand developed a theory of metaphor that, to this day has been, and still is, influential (even though his theory, especially within recent years, also has been heavily criticized, e.g., by Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: Chicago University Press). Factor, Lance R. 1996. Peirce’s definition of metaphor and its consequences. In Vincent Colapietro & Thomas Olshewsky (eds.), Peirce’s doctrine (...) of signs: Theory, applications, and connections, 229–235. Berlin/new York: Mouton De Gruyter, as one of very few scholars, makes a comparison between Peirce and Aristotle. Factor claims that Peirce’s definition of metaphor and its consequences undermine and overturn Aristotle’s theory. We do not believe that Factor is right; and this is due to Factor’s misinterpretation of key elements within Aristotle’s theory. We rather believe that Peirce and Aristotle, in fact, have central ideas in common concerning metaphor; perhaps, in particular, when it comes to the function of metaphor. Hence, both see, for example, metaphor as a cognitive mechanism. The article tries to develop this argument. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThe social marketing campaign is a value-laden communicative process aiming to change individual behavior and public policy. Due to its normative nature and implications, this process has t...

O amor é um tema presente nas mais diversas obras platônicas, das quais constitui grande referência: Fedro, Lísis, República e, o mais importante e especialmente dedicado ao tema, Banquete. Para Platão, o amor é a base da educação. O mesmo dirá Rubem Alves na contemporaneidade. Interessa-nos, então, entender esse amor platônico que leva o nome de Eros - a partir, sobretudo, das obras Banquete e Fedro - e apontar, seguindo o caminho da pedagogia rubemsiana, sua importância como instrumento e base (...) para a educação contemporânea. (shrink)

O livro se divide em cinco capítulos nos quais o autor descreve a vida e obra de Aristóteles, onde tem o objetivo de facilitar o entendimento para estudantes que terão o primeiro contato com o filósofo. No final do livro é possível encontrar um pequeno glossário que ajuda a melhor compreensão dos textos.

O discurso funcional é tanto ubíquo quanto central na ecologia contemporânea, principalmente no contexto das pesquisas sobre biodiversidade e funcionamento ecossistêmico, que emergiram nos anos 1990 em meio à crise da biodiversidade. Entretanto, a despeito dessa forte presença na ecologia, o discurso funcional ainda não tem sido investigado de maneira adequada nesta ciência, na medida em que muitos problemas fundamentais a respeito do tema ainda permanecem sem respostas claras. Por um lado, os ecólogos que lançam mão de explicações funcionais parecem (...) simplesmente tomar como dado ou autoevidente o conceito de função. Contudo, ele nada tem de trivial, tendo em vista os problemas filosóficos suscitados pela linguagem funcional ou teleológica nas explicações biológicas, pelo menos desde Aristóteles. Por outro lado, poucos filósofos da ciência têm se mostrado especialmente interessados nos problemas epistemológicos associados ao discurso funcional em ecologia. Tomando essa situação como ponto de partida, nossa abordagem neste artigo se dá em três etapas. Inicialmente, procedemos a uma análise conceitual de função na ecologia atual, com ênfase nos estudos que relacionam a biodiversidade às propriedades ecossistêmicas. Esboçamos três significados principais do conceito, mostrando os pressupostos e as implicações associados a cada um deles. Num segundo momento, procedemos a uma análise das razões que levam a suspeitas ou objeções contra a linguagem funcional na ecologia. Por fim, num terceiro momento, lançamos algumas sugestões sobre como fundamentar ou dar mais clareza ao discurso funcional na ecologia contemporânea. (shrink)