The Mondragon Corporation, a group of cooperatives, is a thriving example of how cooperatives can succeed. The authors describe six features of the corporation and five 'successful cooperative actions' that they consider to be crucial in explaining its accomplishments. Both the specific features and the successful actions are contrasted with those of standard capitalist companies, to show how this case is unique in the field of corporate organization and management. Through a combination of democratic principles, the values of solidarity, and (...) strong competitiveness, Mondragon has simultaneously achieved both efficiency and equity and has become an alternative to the organizational and governance models of traditional capitalist firms. (shrink)

Psychology related to areas such as gender, language, education and violence has provided scientific knowledge that is contributing to reducing coercive social relationships and to expanding freedom in sexual-affective relationships. Nonetheless, today there are new challenges that require additional developments. In the area of consent, professionals from the fields of law, gender, education and others, are in need of evidence about conditions in human communication that produce consent differentiating them from conditions that coerce. Up to now, consent has been focused (...) on verbal language, for example, “no means no” or “anything less than yes is no”. Despite the fact that focusing consent on verbal language is a very important part of the problem, and has meant a huge advance, it does not solve most of the issues currently raised, like the famous case of “La Manada” in Spain. This article presents the most recent results of a new line of research, which places the problem and the solution in communicative acts, and not only in speech acts. Even though there might be a “yes” in a sexual-affective relationship, there might be no consent, and it is indeed a coercive relationship if that “yes” has been pronounced in a relationship determined by institutional power or by interactive power. Institutional power may occur if who made the proposal for the relationship is a person in charge of the process of selecting personnel in a company and one of the candidates is the person who received the proposal. Interactive power may occur if who makes the proposal is situated in an equal or inferior position for instance in the company to the person receiving it, but the former threatens to make sextortion to the latter. The potential social impact of this research has been already shown in the cases analyzed for this study. (shrink)

Essays by some of the world's leading educators provide a revolutionary portrait of new ideas and developments in education that can influence the possibility of social and political change. The authors take into account such diverse terrain as feminism, ecology, media, and individual liberty in their pursuit of new ideas that can inform the fundamental practice of education and promote a more humane civil society. The book consolidates recent thinking just as it reflects on emerging new lines of critical theory.

The scientific literature has shown Mondragon Corporation, with 65 years of history, as a clear example that cooperativism can be highly competitive in the capitalist market while being highly egalitarian and democratic. This cooperative group has focused on its corporate values of cooperation, participation, social responsibility, and innovation. Previous scientific research reports its enormous transformative and emancipatory potential. However, studies on the effects of various types of worker participation on competitiveness and workers’ psychological wellbeing in this cooperative group exist to (...) a lesser extent. Specifically, one aspect that needs further empirical research and that represents a competitive advantage for Mondragon is the degree of commitment and emotional attachment that can be observed in the people who work there. For this reason, this article aims to identify key elements of the democratic participation of workers in these cooperatives that relate to the development of organizational commitment. Based on a communicative and qualitative approach, data collection included 29 interviews to different profiles of workers from eight different cooperatives of the Corporation. Through this research methodology, the participants interpret their reality through egalitarian and intersubjective dialogue because their voices are considered essential to measure the social impact. This study found three different ways in which the democratic participation of worker-members in management and ownership contributes to developing affective organizational commitment among those working in Mondragon cooperatives, generating positive psychological and economic outcomes for both workers and cooperatives. (shrink)

Growing evidence in recent years has led to an agreement on the importance and benefits that inclusive education has for students with special educational needs (SEN). However, the extension and universalization of an inclusive approach will also be enhanced with more evidence on the benefits that inclusion has for all students, including those without SEN. Based on the existing knowledge that learning interactions among diverse students are a key component of educational inclusion, the aim of this study is to identify (...) the impact on students without SEN of being educated with students with SEN in shared, inclusive, interactive learning environments. Data were collected in three schools using a qualitative approach with a communicative orientation. Semistructured interviews were held with teachers as well as community volunteers participating in the schools. Further, focus groups were conducted with students and teachers. The results show that students without SEN benefit from participating in interactive learning activities with peers with SEN in different ways: (1) they learn to respect others, accept differences, and acknowledge different abilities, thereby creating opportunities for new friendships to develop; (2) they learn about abilities related to helping others participate and learn, to be patient and to gain the satisfaction in helping others learn and behave better; and (3) they benefit from the cognitive effort required to explain themselves and from the contributions of peers with SEN from which they can learn. (shrink)

Two aspects of the fine Flecha-Cruz paper can be usefully elaborated. The Mondragon cooperatives differ not only from capitalist firms but also from most other cooperatives in the doctrine of the 'priority of labor over capital' which means that the people working in any sort of cooperative will be members and will not be rented as employees. Also the Mondragon system of internal capital accounts solves the equity-structure problem that has plagued many modern cooperatives structured as non-profits or traditional (...) worker cooperatives with 'membership shares'. (shrink)

Reunião de ensaios em comemoração aos 90 anos de vida de Ana Maria Araújo Freire, viúva de Paulo Freire. Ana Maria Araújo Freire é reconhecida por seus esforços e seu êxito na divulgação do pensamento do Patrono da Educação Brasileira. Nita, como é carinhosamente conhecida, tem também uma prestiogosa trajetória: é mestre e doutora em Educação pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, época em que foi orientada por Paulo Freire. Em 1986, ambos já viúvos, os então amigos recifenses se (...) reencontraram depois de anos de afastamento. Da troca de ideias e ideais acerca de uma educação libertadora, surgiram a paixão e o amor. Nita e Paulo Freire foram casados por dez anos, período em que ela acompanhou a escrita de Pedagogia da autonomia – um dos títulos mais lidos do educador – e no qual apoiou seu marido na produção de outros três importantes livros: Pedagogia da esperança, Cartas a Cristina e À sombra desta mangueira. Por comungar da intimidade intelectual e pessoal de Paulo Freire por tantos anos, o caminho natural, após seu falecimento, foi desdobrar sua dedicação de esposa numa missão que tomou para si com muito orgulho: a difusão do pensamento freireano. A autora possui vasta produção intelectual nesse sentido, tendo sido finalista do prestigioso Prêmio Jabuti, em 2007, com a biografia Paulo Freire: uma história de vida. Além disso, vem organizando volumes póstumos, além de diversos título em torno da leitura de mundo e a maneira de ser e pensar de Paulo Freire. Aos 90 anos da educadora, a Editora Paz & Terra lhe presta um tributo inédito. Foram compilados especialmente para esta edição alguns dos escritos inéditos ou que estavam dispersos em publicações diversas. São fruto de diversos convites que recebeu para integrar livros, revistas e edições especiais, realizar palestras e receber honrarias em homenagem a seu companheiro de vida, sempre apresentando leituras mais contemporâneas, que refletem sobre como a pedagogia freireana pode nos auxiliar na resolução de conflitos recentes, como a polarização política no Brasil e a violência em nível global. Ainda, em caráter mais intimista, foram organizadas algumas entrevistas concedidas pela autora, de forma que leitores e leitoras possam se sentir ainda mais próximos dos afetos freireanos. É um livro necessário para a história da intelectualidade brasileira, originado da mais autêntica boniteza. “Este excelente trabalho de nossa querida Nita Freire, viúva de Paulo Freire, nos relembra duas dimensões muito bem tratadas pelo saudoso mestre e tão atuais: a tolerância e a violência. Paulo nos ensinou que a tolerância não pode significar suportar, e sim respeitar — acatar a diferença sem fazer dela divergência.” — Frei Betto “O texto de Ana Maria Freire apresenta-se como uma ferramenta teórica potente para os que sonham e lutam por uma educação que contribua para construir uma sociedade verdadeiramente democrática e inclusiva.” — Jose Clovis de Azevedo “A beleza do amor que compartilharam tem como um de seus frutos a excelência com que Nita mantém viva a obra de Paulo.” — Ramón Flecha “As descrições que Nita Freire faz sobre os pequenos diálogos cotidianos com Paulo Freire, na colaboração que lhe prestava para a produção dos seus textos, têm um notável valor histórico — à altura do valor histórico de Freire.” — Alípio Casali. (shrink)

A key aim in biology and psychology is to identify fundamental principles underpinning the behavior of animals, including humans. Analyses of human language and the behavior of a range of non-human animal species have provided evidence for a common pattern underlying diverse behavioral phenomena: Words follow Zipf's law of brevity (the tendency of more frequently used words to be shorter), and conformity to this general pattern has been seen in the behavior of a number of other animals. It has been (...) argued that the presence of this law is a sign of efficient coding in the information theoretic sense. However, no strong direct connection has been demonstrated between the law and compression, the information theoretic principle of minimizing the expected length of a code. Here, we show that minimizing the expected code length implies that the length of a word cannot increase as its frequency increases. Furthermore, we show that the mean code length or duration is significantly small in human language, and also in the behavior of other species in all cases where agreement with the law of brevity has been found. We argue that compression is a general principle of animal behavior that reflects selection for efficiency of coding. (shrink)

En el trabajo se hace un recorrido por los principales autores latinoamericanos que trabajan el tema de los valores en el siglo XX. Se trata de apresar algunas regularidades generales en el itinerario del pensamiento axiológico en América Latina durante la pasada centuria.

The work presented has the following approach: starting from the Pope's reflection on the planet and ecological problems, it is intended to show the philosophical influences that underlie Francisco's exposition. These influences make it possible to describe a philosophical profile present in the encyclical Laudato si’. In addition, since philosophy claims to know, it is not exhausted only in knowledge, but tries to know in order to act; therefore, the presence of an ethical proposal follows; and since all ethics leads (...) to action, it follows that action cannot be without some indicators, without an axiology on which human action on the planet revolves. The result is that Francisco offers an ethic of otherness that feels the other as an authentic neighbor, even those who are in the future. It is an ethic of common benefit and caring for the other whose fundamental axis is the person and for this reason he reflects the phenomenon of human life within life on Earth, with which its philosophical approach seems personalist, from a point of Christian view. (shrink)

The work then develops attempts to present the most relevant aspects of the philosophical thought of John Stuart Mill in relation to religion. The work consists of two parts: the first part, w e develop below, theological reflection on the most important aspects about religión, the debate on the arguments that justify the existente of God; the attributes of God; the occurrence of evil in the World; and, finally, the M ill's assesment about Christ. The second part, will focus on (...) aspects about utilitarian morality and the Christian religion; the proposal about new religión, M ankind's Religion; the happiness in your relationship with utilitarianism, happiness relates to Christianity and the common ground between Christian doctrine and utilitarian doctrine. (shrink)

El trabajo que se presenta intenta mostrar, por un lado y siguiendo a Ortega y Gasset, la complejidad del fenómeno de la política; y por otro lado, a partir de la constatación anterior, la necesidad de una ética que haga de la política una actividad presidida por el diálogo, la integración y la búsqueda de soluciones a las complejidades de la sociedad actual. Son relevantes en este aspecto Apel y Habermas.

Ser modern és ser racionalista. Aquest llibre repassa amb detall les tesis de Descartes, la seva relació amb els contemporanis i les conseqüències de les seves teories.

L'utilitarisme té com a criteri bàsic aconseguir el màxim bé per al màxim nombre possible de persones. L'utilitarisme dóna molta importància a la recerca de la felicitat personal. Aquest llibre en descriu les tesis bàsiques i respon a les principals acusacions que ha rebut.

At several times, the Koran mentions the death that affects all men. Perhaps that was the reason why the question of suicide and of voluntary death arose very soon in the Islamic world. From the century IX, this problem became object of consideration, caused by the impact of the Ancient Philosophy: it seems that Socrates' figure exercised a certain influence through the versions of his death, accepted voluntarily, which arrived to the Islamic world. Socrates' death favoured the reflection among many (...) Muslim thinkers. KEY WORDS – Islam. Socrates. Voluntary death. Suicide. (shrink)

El objetivo de esta investigación es determinar si existe influencia en los alumnos al elegir una carrera profesional por parte de los padres al manifestar estos un deseo diferido por obtener un título profesional y establecer el grado de satisfacción de los alumnos con su carrera elegida. La investigación se realizó dos etapas, la primera detecta si existe el deseo diferido de los padres por obtener un título profesional y la influencia de este sobre los alumnos. La segunda midió la (...) satisfacción de los alumnos con la carrera y el grado de influencia de los padres. El 79.31% de los padres presentan el deseo diferido por obtener un título profesional, de los cuales el 67% de ellos a influenciado alguno de sus hijos con su deseo, la satisfacción de los alumnos con su carrera está directamente relacionada con la influencia de los padres y con el semestre que cursa. Se concluye que el deseo diferido de los padres por obtener un título profesional existe en la mayoría de ellos y este se refleja en sus consejos para la selección de la carrera por parte del alumno y su grado de satisfacción. (shrink)

Con este artículo queremos mostrar que si bien los modelos democráticos liberal y republicano pretenden defender la libertad, y la igualdad de los hombres, sus prácticas generan gran marginalidad. Aunque desde el siglo XX se ha intentado corregir la marginalidad que generan, tal como se observa en los esfuerzos por mostrar que tanto liberalismo como republicanismo no son modelos tajantemente opuesto, reflexión desde la cual se ha propuesto un tercer modelo; Democracia Deliberativa, ese esfuerzo aún no logra su cometido. De (...) hecho en las críticas a este tercer modelo se observa que mientras se siga exigiendo condiciones de universalidad, especialmente de la razón como parámetro universal de argumentación, seguirá existiendo marginalidad, y en consecuencia necesidad de emancipación. (shrink)

Los Anales de la Cátedra Francisco Suárez se han ganado a pulso, a lo largo de los años, sobre todo gracias a la tenacidad de Nicolás López Calera y al equipo formado en torno a él en la Facultad de Derecho de Granada, el mérito de ser la principal referencia bibliográfica de la Filosofía del Derecho en España junto al Anuario de Filosofía del Derecho en la etapa en que J. J. Gil Cremades fue su director. Otras revistas se han (...) ocupado menos del filosofar jurídico que, fundamentalmente, de lo que podríamos llamar problemas de teoría general y de interpretación del derecho. Y ahora, por la amistosa pero tenaz compulsión de M. Saavedra, me veo en la obligación de contribuir a esta entrega de una revista prestigiosa, con no poca vergüenza, con la descripción de mi más que modesta aportación a la reflexión jurídico-política en los últimos casi cincuenta años. Las páginas que siguen expresarán pues una autopercepción, que sin duda deberá ser corregida por el lector. No obstante, trataré de introducir datos que puedan rectificar lo que me parecen errores de algunas publicaciones sobre la filosofía del derecho española en general y sobre mi propio trabajo en particular. (shrink)

El presente trabajo pretende analiza casos de procesos y dramas sociales vinculados a eventos generados en la vía pública, donde el comportamientos de conductores y peatones está atravesado por reglas y valores que más allá de estar legislada por las leyes y normas de tránsito, se sitúa en los preceptos de una vida moral laica que actúa restituyendo el orden público/vial frente a cualquier acto que lo amenace. En este sentido se apela a conceptos como el de solidaridad, moralidad y (...) anomia. Por último se reflexiona sobre la transgresión a las normas viales. (shrink)

En esta ponencia se exponen los diversos caminos de acceso a la Verdad que históricamente se han dado en el Islam: la tradición, la razón y el corazón. Estos dos últimos dan fugar a la filosofía y a fa mís tica. A la vez que se señalan algunas coincidencias entre ellas, también se ponen de relieve las divergencias que las separan.

The first book consecrated to logic, written by an andalusian author is Ibn Hazm’s Kitªb al-taqrÌb li-Êadd al-manðiq (“Introduction to definition of logic”). Where, the author seeks to adapt the logic to the simple language of the jurists. Here it is pointed out how this important treatise can depend on the logical school of Bagdad.

For this new anthology, Anthony Bonner has chosen central texts from his acclaimed two-volume compilation Selected Works of Ramon Llull. Available for the first time in an affordable format, these works serve as an introduction to the life and writings of the Catalan philosopher, mystic, and theologian who lived from 1232 to 1316. Founder of a school of Arabic and other languages, Llull was also a poet and novelist and one of the creators of literary Catalan. This volume contains three (...) prefaces on Llull's life, thought, and reputation. Of Llull's works, it offers Book of the Gentile and the Three Wise Men, his seminal Christian apology; the Ars brevis, a summary of his philosophical system; The Book of the Lover and the Beloved, a celebration of mystical love in the courtly tradition; and his wittily scathing Book of the Beasts. (shrink)

The autobiography of an influential medieval Catalan intellectual.