This book explores secession from three normative disciplines: political philosophy, international law and constitutional law. The author first develops a moral theory of secession based on a hypothetical multinational contract. Under this contract theory, injustices do not determine the existence of a right to secede, but the requirements to exercise it. The book’s second part then argues that international law is more inclined to accept and advance a remedial right approach to secession. Therefore, justice as multinational fairness is to be (...) fully institutionalized under the constitutional law of liberal democracies. The final part proposes constitutionalizing a qualified right to secede with the aim of fostering recognition and accommodation of national pluralism as well as cooperation and compromise between majority and minority nations. (shrink)

In his new book, Pau Bossacoma Busquets combines political theory and philosophy with perspectives from international and constitutional law and a variety of empirical, historical and contemporary case studies. Thereby, he presents a new theoretical framework for discussing the Morality and Legality of Secession in general and various theoretical, institutional and practical challenges presented by movements for independence in particular.

Performance and control of upright bipedal posture requires a constant and dynamic integration of relative contributions of different sensory inputs (i. e., sensory reweighting) to enable effective adaptations as individuals face environmental changes and perturbations. Children with gymnastic experience showed balance performance closer to that of adults during and after proprioceptive alteration than children without gymnastic experience when their center of pressure (COP) was analyzed. However, a particular COP sway can be achieved through performing and coordinating different postural movements. The (...) aim of this study was to assess how children and adults of different gymnastic experience perform and control postural movements while they have to adjust balance during and after bilateral tendon vibration. All participants were equipped with spherical markers attached to their skin and two vibrators strapped over the Achilles tendons. Bipedal stance was performed in three 45-s trials in two visual conditions (eyes open, EO, and eyes closed, EC) ordered randomly in which vibration lasted 10 s. Posture movements were analyzed by a principal component analysis (PCA) calculated on normalized and weighted markers coordinates. The relative standard deviation of each principal movement component (principal position, PP-rSTD) quantified its contribution to the whole postural movements, i.e., quantified the coordinative structure. The first (principal velocities, PV-rSTD) and second (principal accelerations, PA-rSTD) time-derivatives characterized the rate-dependent sensory information associated with and the neuromuscular control of the postural movements, respectively. Children without gymnastic experience showed a different postural coordinative structure and different sensory-motor control characteristics. They used less ankle movements in the anterior-posterior direction but increased ankle movements in medio-lateral direction, presented larger hip and trunk velocities, and exhibited more hip actions. Gymnastic experience during childhood seemed to benefit the development of proprioceptive reweighting processes in children, leading to a more mature form of coordinating and controlling posture similarly to adults. (shrink)

Background: The relationship between healthcare professionals and patients in the Spanish health sector has undergone dramatic change. One aspect of this is that the use of informed consent has become a key factor in the delivery of adequate healthcare. But although a certain period of time has already passed since informed consent started to be used, in Spain there is still doubt about how adequately informed consent is being used. Objectives: (a) To look at how patients understand the notion and (...) purpose of informed consent, and (b) how the informed consent is applied – the way patients receive such information affects their level of participation and decision making during the time they receive medical care. Methodology: We use interpretative description of interviews with patients. We developed guiding questions for the interviews with patients in two preliminary and exploratory focus groups. Then, we carried out 20 personal open-ended interviews with 20 purposive selected patients with illnesses that had a serious impact on their lives. Ethical considerations: Permission from ethical committees and institutions involved in the study, and consent and confidentiality were ensured before conducting the research. Results: The findings show that while patients agreed that their consent should be necessary for health professionals to be able to intervene, they had serious difficulty obtaining and then understanding information offered to them at the moment when they were being asked to sign informed consent documents. The participants were critical of the consent documents, which they considered were treated as merely a formality and even some of them had felt coerced to sign. Discussion: Participants confirmed that the informed consent documents that they signed did not meet their ethical objectives. Their perception of the purpose of consent indicates that informed consent document may still be largely understood as a formality rather an ethical obligation. (shrink)

Desarrollamos un análisis comparativo de las vivencias del dolor físico y de la imaginación desde la perspectiva fenomenológica. Partimos de la hipótesis de que ambas vivencias forman los estados límite de la vida consciente. Nuestro objetivo es mostrar las características esenciales de dichas vivencias y para ello seguimos los textos más relevantes de la tradición fenomenológica, especialmente los de Husserl y Sartre. Los de Husserl dedicados al cuerpo vivido y a las sensaciones táctiles, por un lado, y los dedicados a (...) la conciencia de imagen y a la fantasía, por el otro, son totalmente imprescindibles, y los complementamos con los de Sartre dedicados a la imaginación. Recurrimos también a estudios fenomenológicos actuales sobre ambas vivencias. En primer lugar describiremos la vivencia del dolor físico como una auto-afección que en casos de dolor severo destruye el fundamento de la constitución de sentido que es el cuerpo vivido. En segundo lugar, describiremos la imaginación como la reproducción de una experiencia posible. La conciencia como auto-afección es opuesta a la conciencia como reproducción de modo que, efectivamente, ambas forman los limites extremos de la conciencia humana como subjetividad encarnada. (shrink)

The debate concerning the so-called U.S. Health and Human Services Contraception Mandate has been adequately framed, in the academic field, within the traditional ethical doctrine on cooperation with evil. This principle will allow us to conclude whether employers may ethically comply with the onerous existing law or not. The discussion has been quite heated, because the practical conclusions authors have reached vary widely, depending on which interpretation of the theory they rely on. In this paper, some of these explanations are (...) addressed and analyzed from the standpoint of the Thomistic theory of action, which is now the most common point of view. This work concludes that, although the Contraception Mandate will most likely be repealed by the current U.S. administration, as things once stood, compliance with it may have been ethically licit in some cases. (shrink)

This paper is divided into two main parts. In the first half, I identify a tension within Bernard Williams’ political realist conception of political legitimacy. On the one hand, he was committed to a peculiar universalist criterion of political legitimacy – what is politically unacceptable is summed up in the old Catholic saying quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditum est. On the other, he supported the idea that what counts as political legitimacy depends on what we, in the (...) here and now, deem to be politically legitimate – thus suggesting some kind of relativist criterion for political legitimacy. In order to eliminate this tension, I propose a two-step reconstruction of Williams’ works on political philosophy. The second half of the article assesses three criticisms to Willliams’ conception of political legitimacy levied by contemporary political realists. I use my two-step reconstruction of Williams to reject two of these three objections. In addressing the third, I sketch a reading of Williams’ notion of political legitimacy in the context of his ethical project as a whole and, in so doing, overcome the difficulty. (shrink)

A script concordance test was developed as an innovative tool for assessing ethical reasoning ability. An SCT of 12 medical ethical vignettes were constructed from the UNESCO Casebook on Human Dignity and Human Rights. The vignettes were reviewed by a panel of 15 medical experts before administration to a panel of 18 clinicians. The clinician’s answers were used to constitute the scoring key. The SCT was then administered to first and final year medical students. Data were analysed using SPSS. Internal (...) consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. SCT performance was tested for association with sex, year of study and race by comparing the mean SCT scores between categories within each variable. Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach’s alpha values, ranging from 0.597 to 0.902, indicated high intra-vignette reliability for 10 of the vignettes. Inter-vignette reliability was high at 0.797. Mean SCT scores were not significantly different between students of different gender, year of study and ethnicity. However, each vignette was able to distinguish between overall poor and good test performers. The SCT was able to differentiate between students with varying degrees of ethical reasoning ability. (shrink)

The endocannabinoid system is the target of the main psychoactive component of the plant Cannabis sativa, the Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This system is composed by the cannabinoid receptors, the endogenous ligands, and the enzymes involved in their metabolic processes, which works both centrally and peripherally to regulate a plethora of physiological functions. This review aims at explaining how the site‐specific actions of the endocannabinoid system impact on memory and feeding behavior through the cannabinoid receptors 1 (CB1R). Centrally, CB1R is widely distributed (...) in many brain regions, different cell types (e.g. neuronal or glial cells) and intracellular compartments (e.g. mitochondria). Interestingly, cellular and molecular effects are differentially mediated by CB1R according to their cell‐type localization (e.g. glutamatergic or GABAergic neurons). Thus, understanding the cellular and subcellular function of CB1R will provide new insights and aid the design of new compounds in cannabinoid‐based medicine.Also watch the Video Abstract. (shrink)

Según una sofisticada versión del llamado rule of law, las reglas del derecho deben ser generales, en el sentido de que deben regular clases de casos, no situaciones particulares. La posibilidad de prever cuáles van a ser las decisiones jurídicas depende, entre otras cosas, de este carácter general de las normas. Pero junto a la previsibilidad y certeza que aporta, el carácter general de las reglas puede tener un reverso negativo: en algunas ocasiones, cuando se aplican a algunas circunstancias particulares, (...) lo que parecía funcionar de forma satisfactoria en la teoría o en abstracto, proporciona soluciones inadmisibles (inadmisibles con arreglo a alguna concepción de la justicia). Esos casos son conocidos como casos recalcitrantes. En este artículo propongo una manera de entender el razonamiento jurídico-práctico que mitiga ese reverso negativo de las reglas generales conservando buena parte de la certeza que aportan. (shrink)

El contenido de este artículo consiste en mostrar que la experiencia estética es la esencia de la experiencia de la obra de arte. Argumentaré en contra de la concepción del arte de Arthur C. Danto según la cual el arte moderno ya no requiere de la experiencia estética y este hecho determina el fin del arte. La experiencia estética permitiría dar cuenta del arte desde el Renacimiento hasta el siglo XIX pero el arte moderno del siglo XX solo puede ser (...) explicado conceptualmente y, por tanto, la filosofía del arte es necesaria para explicitar ese contenido.Para defender el estatuto estético de la obra de arte mostraré que la experiencia estética se identifica con la experiencia fenomenológica. Esto quiere decir que la experiencia estética nos hace concientes de la diferencia entre el contenido de la obra y el medio de la experiencia sensible en el que este contenido se da. El “aparecer” y “lo que aparece” se corresponden en la experiencia estética con los dos polos de la relación intencional y constituyen los dos estratos fundamentales de la obra de arte. A través de la aproximación fenomenológica intentaré mostrar que la obra de arte no excluye el contenido conceptual, pero este contenido ha de estar necesariamente incorporado. No es la filosofía la que tiene que comprender este contenido sino exclusivamente la experiencia estética.The subject of this paper is to claim that the aesthetic experience is the essence of the experience of the work of art. I argue against the view hold by Arthur C. Danto, according to which modern art does not require the aesthetic experience any more and that this fact means the end of art. The aesthetic experience allows explaining only the art made be-tween the Renaissance and the XIX century. The modern work of art of the XX century can only be explained conceptually and therefore a philosophy of art is required to make that content explicit and clear.To defend the aesthetic status of the work of art I will show that the aesthetic experience identifies itself with the phenomenological ex-perience. This means that the aesthetic experience makes us aware of the difference between the content of the work and the sensible lived experience in which this content appears. The “appearance” and “what appears” are the two poles of Intentionality and the two fundamental layers of the work of art. Through the phenomenological approach I will make clear that the work of art does not exclude the conceptual content at all. This content has to be necessarily embodied. It is not philosophy that has to disclose this con-tent but the aesthetic experience alone. (shrink)

Phenomenology is often described as a paradigm shift that calls for a re-assessment of inherited themes and concepts. One of its most important contributions is the central role given to the embodied subject as opposed to the conception of the disembodied subject that has dominated philosophy since Descartes. If perspectival painting best represents the paradigm of modern philosophy since the Renaissance, it is the multiple perspectives of Cubist painting that best represent the phenomenological paradigm. While the relationship between phenomenology and (...) art has been widely studied, my aim in this article is to focus on the way in which Cubism represents the embodied, horizonal structure of our perception, and then to discuss the new form of contemporary art installation as an actualization of Cubist principles in the age of digital reproduction. The embodiment of the subject necessarily involves intersubjectivity, for others appear in the subject’s contextual frame of public space. While for Arendt the shift from private subjective space to public intersubjective space is effected through dialogue, I argue that it is also effected architecturally, for architecture facilitates dialogue by offering multiple perspectives on common space and shared time. I suggest, finally, that architecture’s multiperspectival strategies offer the humanities a useful model of a multidisciplinary methodology. (shrink)

In this article we discuss the political thought of the French philosopher Simone Weil. In particular, we analyse two fundamental elements of her critique of Marxism, namely her reflections on the phenomenon of power and her critique of the theory of the unlimited development of productive forces. We do so in dialogue with two of the pioneers of the ecosocialist critique of Marx in Spain: Manuel Sacristán and Francisco Fernández Buey, both readers of Weil. The aim: to point out the (...) relevance of this philosopher’s thought not only for its influence on some of the great ethical-political reflections of the socialist tradition in the twentieth century, but also for its ability to address the current challenges. (shrink)

Timothy Williamson defensa que la filosofia és una ciència teòrica que s’ocupa d’investigar sobre la realitat, d’obtenir coneixement, i que ho fa construint teories, confrontant-les amb l’evidència, d’una manera sistemàtica, disciplinada i socialment organitzada, com les altres ciències. En aquest article es compara aquesta posició, d’una banda, amb la que considera que la filosofia és una reflexió de segon ordre sobre la ciència, la moral, la política, l’art…; i, de l’altra, amb la concepció de la filosofia com a guia de (...) la vida, com a recerca de la saviesa pràctica. (shrink)

This article presents a view of bioethics in the Spanish context. We may identify several features common to Mediterranean countries because of their relatively similar social organisation. Each country has its own distinguishing features but we would point two aspects which are of particular interest¨: the Mediterranean view of autonomy and the importance of Catholicism in Mediterranean culture. The Spanish experience on bioethics field has been marked by these elements, trying to build a civic ethics alternative, with the law as (...) an important support. So, Spanish bioethics has been developed in two parallel levels: in the academic and policy maker field (University and Parliament) and in clinical practice (hospitals and healthcare ethics committees), with different paces and methods. One of the most important changes in the paternalistic mentality has been promoted through the recognition by law of the patient’s rights and also through the new generation of citizens, clearly aware on the exercise of autonomy. Now, the healthcare professionals have a new challenge: adapt their practice to this new paradigm. (shrink)

Early Christian writers defined idolatry around the monotheistic distinction between proper worship of the creator and vain worship of the creature, which they had inherited from Hellenistic Judaism. Despite the remarkable consensus about the validity of this theological analysis, the medieval synthesis was under severe strain throughout the early modern period, mainly because of the concept's extended range of application in the new contexts of religious controversy. In all these cases, deciding what practices constituted idolatry was open to debate. By (...) the eighteenth century, libertine writers could retain the concept of superstition at the expense of that of idolatry, which Voltaire (himself an anti-Christian deist) denounced as meaningless. (shrink)

Este artículo explora la posibilidad de que las constituciones contemporáneas puedan ser interpretadas de manera armónica, es decir, irenista. Las objeciones más importantes a las que una concepción irenista de la constitución debería hacer frente son las objeciones de la incoherencia y de la inestabilidad. La primera afirma que la armonía no es posible porque se dan conflictos normativos entre los diversos componentes de las constituciones contemporáneas. La segunda afirma que no es posible una armonía de tipo universalista. Una concepción (...) irenista con visos de ser plausible debería poder ser capaz de dar una respuesta a cada una de estas objeciones. (shrink)

Many open networks, distributed computing systems, and infrastructure management systems face a common problem: how to distribute a collectivised set of resources amongst a set of autonomous agents of heterogenous provenance. One approach is for the agents themselves to self-organise the allocation of resources with respect to a set of agreed conventional rules; but given an allocation scheme which maps resources to those agents and a set of rules for determining that allocation scheme, some natural questions arise—Is this allocation fair? (...) Is the allocation method effective? Is it efficient? Are the decision makers accountable? In this paper, we argue that some answers to these questions can be found in the formal characterisation of different aspects of ‘justice’ and that these different aspects need a principled operationalisation as policies for system management. We present a formal model and some experimental results, concluding that the different aspects are all inter-connected and that what is required is a comprehensive research programme in computational justice. (shrink)

During the last decade, Network Science has become one of the most active fields in applied physics and mathematics, since it allows the analysis of a diversity of social, biological and technological systems [24]. From the diversity of applications of Network Science, in this Opinion paper we are concerned about its potential to analyse one of the most extended group sports, Football (soccer in U.S. terminology) [29], since it allows addressing different aspects of the team organization and performance not captured (...) by classical analyses based on the performance of individual players. The reason behind relies on the complex nature of the game, which, paraphrasing the foundational paradigm of complexity sciences “can not be analysed by looking at its components (i.e., players) individually but, on the contrary, considering the system as a whole” or, in the classical words of after-match interviews “it’s not just me, it’s the team”. The recent ability of obtaining datasets of all events occurring during a match, including the position of the players and the interactions between them has opened the door to new kind of studies where it is possible to analyse and quantify the behaviour of a team as a whole, together with the role of a single player [17]. Under this framework, the organization of a team can be considered as the result of the interaction between its players, creating a network based on passes. In this way, we can create passing networks, which are directed (i.e.,... (shrink)