Aphantasia is a condition that is often characterized as the impaired ability to create voluntary mental images. Aphantasia is assumed to selectively affect voluntary imagery mainly because even though aphantasics report being unable to visualize something at will, many report having visual dreams. We argue that this common characterization of aphantasia is incorrect. Studies on aphantasia are often not clear about whether they are assessing voluntary or involuntary imagery, but some studies show that several forms of involuntary imagery are also (...) affected in aphantasia (including imagery in dreams). We also raise problems for two attempts to show that involuntary images are preserved in aphantasia. In addition, we report the results of a study about afterimages in aphantasia, which suggest that these tend to be less intense in aphantasics than in controls. Involuntary imagery is often treated as a unitary kind that is either present or absent in aphantasia. We suggest that this approach is mistaken and that we should look at different types of involuntary imagery case by case. Doing so reveals no evidence of preserved involuntary imagery in aphantasia. We suggest that a broader characterization of aphantasia, as a deficit in forming mental imagery, whether voluntary or not, is more appropriate. Characterizing aphantasia as a volitional deficit is likely to lead researchers to give incorrect explanations for aphantasia, and to look for the wrong mechanisms underlying it. (shrink)

Equality policies in Spain have increasingly developed since the creation of the National Women’s Agency (1983). Over a ten‐year period Spain has achieved European standards in equality policies in terms of institutions, budget and legitimization. In a short time Spain moved from a dictatorship to European Union membership, which has brought about enormous changes regarding women’s roles and rights. Other relevant changes concern the political organization of the state: the 1978 Constitution sets a model of regional administrative autonomy, neither centralized (...) nor federal, in which each region has developed gender institutions. Gender‐equality policies constituted the framework for the development of gay and lesbian policies. Both gender equality and gay and lesbian policies have evolved differently at the national and regional levels, with a trend of inclusiveness, more creative policies and institutions at the regional and local levels. In the meantime, the national debate has concentrated on same‐sex marriage, while sexuality is not a topic within gender equality policies. This paper argues that the progressive inclusiveness of lesbians within the equality agenda and the new intersectional perspectives, alongside gay marriage shows an evolution of Spanish citizenship models, largely influenced by the European Union context. (shrink)

O presente artigo foi desenvolvido durante a pesquisa de Iniciação Científica realizada na Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo com o apoio do CNPq. A pesquisa teve como objetivo o estudo e a análise dos versos 925-1240 do Livro 5 da obra De Rerum Natura de Tito Lucrécio Caro. Tal recorte apresenta principalmente a origem da linguagem e da civilização. Para o desenvolvimento desse artigo, com base na frequência do curso Lingua e Letteratura Latina (...) II, na universidade La Sapienza, no ano de 2018, no texto latino publicado em Deufert, nos comentários de Costa, Bailey, e outras análises poéticas da obra lucreciana, foi realizado um estudo do texto latino, sobretudo dos pontos de vista genérico e poético. (shrink)

We examine a variety of dialogue protocols, taking inspiration from two fields: natural language dialogue modelling and multiagent systems. In communicative interaction, one can identify different features that may increase the complexity of the dialogue structure. This motivates a hierarchy of abstract models for protocols that takes as a starting point protocols based on deterministic finite automata. From there, we proceed by looking at particular examples that justify either an enrichment or a restriction of the initial model.

The article is an approach to the possibilities of the evolution of consciousness. The research will be presented from the point of view of the Art and Mystic experiences and also compared with the biological point of view.The differences between the perception space and the representation space will be described, since it is considered that the later represents the location where the conscience processes take place. An example in the contemporary architecture on the representation space (the Jean Nouvel's Agbar Tower) (...) will be analysed. The contemporary artistic practices on living tissue manipulation will also be reviewed: artists inspired by the evolutionary laws are working nowadays with the manipulation of living tissues as artistic objects. This could be a controversial phenomenon that may drive the art-science to a materialistic position. It is for this reason that the work with consciousness could prove that the immaterial or energy is a real element that humans can manipulate as they do with living tissues. To know how to do it would be the research in art for this century and could change the direction in art-science, could change the direction of the global consciousness through a planetary culture. (shrink)

This article aims to discuss some theoretical problems regarding to human rights. It begins with a theoretician and conceptual discussion about modern State, empire of law, politics and law, sovereignty etc. and their relation with the idea of human rights, which have been more than ever supported and guaranteed by the Rule of law and its institutional arrangements. It has been necessary to briefly discuss the notion of citizenship to understand how human rights have arrived to such ordinance, for citizenship (...) would discharge, in XXth century, in the concept of human rights, whose redefinition would culminate in the Declaration of Vienna in 1993. After that, human rights had been studied through innumerable paradigms from different authors, whose statements and general lines are reconstituted and agglutinated in four typical-ideal models of interpretation. Finally, some statements regarding this subject had been made, from recent facts and events that have rearranged the worldwide politics in the beginning of the century, trying to confront the theories with the reality that is presented to us. Key words: human rights, theory of the State, international relations, theory politics, international law. (shrink)

Argumentation mining aims to automatically detect, classify and structure argumentation in text. Therefore, argumentation mining is an important part of a complete argumentation analyisis, i.e. understanding the content of serial arguments, their linguistic structure, the relationship between the preceding and following arguments, recognizing the underlying conceptual beliefs, and understanding within the comprehensive coherence of the specific topic. We present different methods to aid argumentation mining, starting with plain argumentation detection and moving forward to a more structural analysis of the detected (...) argumentation. Different state-of-the-art techniques on machine learning and context free grammars are applied to solve the challenges of argumentation mining. We also highlight fundamental questions found during our research and analyse different issues for future research on argumentation mining. (shrink)

According to a common view, conscious thoughts necessarily involve quasi-perceptual experiences, or mental images. This is alleged to be the case not only when one entertains conscious thoughts about perceptible things, but also when one thinks about more abstract things. In the case of conscious abstract propositional thoughts, the idea is that they occur in inner speech, which is taken to involve imagery (typically auditory) of words in a natural language. I argue that unsymbolized thinking and total aphantasia cast doubt (...) on this common view. Unsymbolized thinking is the experience of thoughts that does not involve imagery. Total aphantasia is the inability to produce mental images of all sensory modalities. I consider and reject the objection that these individuals are mistaken either because their thoughts do involve images, or because those thoughts are not conscious. Thus, unsymbolized thinking and aphantasia provide evidence that conscious thoughts can occur without imagery. (shrink)

The ideal of “freedom-as-omnipotence” pointed out by Daya Krishna in his interpretation of the Yogasūtra is undoubtedly present throughout the history of yoga. This ideal of omnipotence is also at the basis of the contemporary transhumanist program through the ideal of human perfection, and there are already transhumanist versions that defend the use of meditative techniques from India as complements to a program of human enhancement. In this essay I argue that transhumanism and bioliberalism seek to free us from biological (...) conditioning at the cost of making us more and more dependent on science and technology, presenting a sort of “derivative freedom” that many premodern yogas would never accept. Instead, contemporary yogas, which no longer contemplate the ideal of yogic powers, are much more amenable to the idea of human enhancement through external devices, partly because they have adopted diluted versions of the models of freedom advocated in premodern yogas. We are already witnessing the evolution of a trans-human yoga in which technological devices are incorporated into the practice and virtual practice communities are created, some even made up of avatar-practitioners, in which the human factor is progressively lost. (shrink)

Daya Krishna (1924-2007) fue uno de los pensadores más creativos, polémicos y prolíficos del siglo XX. Trabajó intensamente por deshacer los estereotipos comúnmente atribuidos a la Filosofía india, desafiando las visiones que pretendían reducir milenios de debates intelectuales a parámetros meramente religiosos, prácticos y espirituales. Precursor de la Filosofía de fusión y la Filosofía global, Daya Krishna pertenece a esa generación de pensadores indios del siglo XX que socavaron las bases del provincialismo epistémico, como K.C. Bhattacharya o A.C. Mukerji, a (...) través de escritos en los que recurren a múltiples fuentes de conocimiento para pensar problemas que nos interpelan en el presente, interrogándose sobre la naturaleza misma de la filosofía. Este ensayo quiere dar a conocer su pensamiento a los investigadores de habla hispana, así como invitarlos a pensar con el pensamiento de la India, de cualquier época y disciplina, en lugar de abordarlo con una actitud de «anticuario» que el propio Daya Krishna refutó a través de su obra. (shrink)

O VÍNCULO ENTRE A REVOLUÇÃO E O PODER CONSTITUINTE.

Este ensayo se pregunta por la escritura y los modos de narrar la crisis producida por el estallido social. Se trata de pensar los lenguajes posibles de algunas producciones estéticas: textos, cuerpos, signos individuales y colectivos que han permitido proponer sentidos. Escritos durante o después del estallido social, en un género tradicional o en una propuesta aún inédita de escrituras en papel o en otros soportes; con autorías reconocidas o en el anonimato de la calle y la voz popular. Estos (...) lenguajes hacen ver que lo desconocido, lo todavía no dicho, lo aún sin historia se nombra en la potencia imaginaria de escrituras diversas. Esta diversidad produce un enriquecimiento de lo literario, en sus modos de relación con la historia. (shrink)

Apresentação do Dossiê: "ATIVISMO NEGRO E JUSTIÇA RACIAL: produções teóricas e de pesquisa no campo da etnicidade, interseccionalidade e diversidade sexual".

O presente artigo busca articular reflexões a partir da teoria da interseccionalidade. Nesse campo, a questão da liberdade é um ponto importante e é antípoda do racismo. A forma pela qual as mulheres negras afirmam a liberdade, individual ou coletivamente, produz resultados políticos e sociais. Neste artigo buscamos analisar a percepção da liberdade no cotidiano. Foram entrevistadas mulheres negras de diferentes níveis de escolaridade, em idade reprodutiva, residentes do sudoeste baiano. A liberdade se apresenta como uma possibilidade que advém de (...) conquistas econômicas e sociais. É, nesse sentido, resultante de lutas coletivas e sociais. O racismo é, então, uma barreira importante a ser considerada a partir da teoria da interseccionalidade. A estruturação de sentidos e significados construídos nas narrativas do cotidiano pode auxiliar na compreensão das condições sociais e de vida das mulheres negras e orientar hipóteses de pesquisa e de ação política. (shrink)

El Mokṣopāya (s. X d.n.e), mejor conocido como Yogavāsiṣṭha, nos adentra en el universo del idealismo subjetivo a través de historias extraordinarias, narradas por Vasiṣṭha, en las que la imaginación es la protagonista. La filosofía que subyace a este voluminoso poema muestra que todo lo que hay es la conciencia (cit-mātra) formada por el vacío supremo. La mente individual solo es un destello del poder de esta conciencia (cit-śakti), un teatro donde se proyecta el mundo externo, con todos sus objetos (...) perceptibles. Leyendo este texto a la luz de una de las obras más célebres del teatro español del Siglo de Oro, La vida es sueño de Calderón de la Barca, este ensayo tiende puentes entre la angustia existencial de Segismundo, que ignora si está dormido o despierto, y el pensamiento sereno de Vasiṣṭha cuando explica que la vigilia y el sueño son ambos igual de vacíos e ilusorios. (shrink)

Christian apologists not only borrowed the theoretical framework from ancient philosophy, but also the existential heart of it. The spiritual exercises of ancient philosophy will be used in the service of the Imitation of Christ and mixed with exercises of corporal mortification totally alien to the spirit of Platonic, Stoic or Neoplatonic philosophy. The body of Christian ascetics cannot be denied or ignored –for it would be like denying the corporality of Jesus–, but neither can it be loved or valued (...) –in the name of the imitation of Christ. Along with the praise of suffering, the paradoxical relationship with one's own body is at the base of the Christian way of life and determines the direction and depth of the exercises that Christianity borrows from ancient philosophy. (shrink)

According to Hayek the democracy is only possible with a system of free market. If this is true, the western democracies are full of "aporias" and contradictions which end up in continual disillusions. Democracy has grown amongst capitalist societies which currently show these deficiencies such as a low participation of citiziens in the public life, the priority given to material goods rather than spiritual ones, etc. This article shows how these deficiencies are the central points in the system of Adam (...) Smith's free market, the father of the capitalist system. (shrink)

Volume 24, Issue 5, August 2019, Page 563-569.

Pierre Bourdieu, inspirado pelos estudos de Panofsky, delineou o conceito de habitus para tratar da relação entre indivíduo e sociedade. Para ele, habitus tem um papel mediador: é criado a partir da internalização das estruturas sociais em que um sujeito se encontra e prepara a ação futura desse indivíduo na sociedade. O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar habitus como um signo, sob a ótica da filosofia de Charles Sanders Peirce, e a relação entre indivíduo e sociedade como um processo semiótico (...) e pragmático de fixação de crenças. Para isso, será apresentada a base escolástica comum aos conceitos de habitus em Bourdieu e de hábito em Peirce, para então serem apresentados os conceitos peircianos. Assim, se tornará mais evidente como o habitus participa de um processo de evolução contínuo que pode manter os modelos de uma sociedade ou transformá-los por meio das ações inventivas dos agentes. (shrink)

Na teologia newtoniana, o primeiro Ser existente seria Deus, a quem ele considerava como a Inteligência criadora e mantenedora do universo e não sua alma. Assim por inferência, o espaço também resultaria desta existência divina, não como uma de suas criações, mas como uma emanação. Por isso, argumento que Newton teria usado o termo emanação da mesma forma que Plotino o havia apresentado e não como sinônimo de criação, ou ainda, de inferência, conforme defendido por alguns lógicos do século XVIII.