The Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment series, previously known as SVEC (Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century), has published over 500 peer-reviewed scholarly volumes since 1955 as part of the Voltaire Foundation at the University of Oxford. International in focus, Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment volumes cover wide-ranging aspects of the eighteenth century and the Enlightenment, from gender studies to political theory, and from economics to visual arts and music, and are published in English or French.

The author places Grmek's editorial within the flux of the historiographical debate which, since the middle of the 1970s, has concentrated on two major crises due to the end of social science-oriented 'scientific history' and to the 'linguistic turn'. He also argues that Grmek's historiographical work of the 1980s and 1990s was to some extent an alternative to certain observed changes in historical fashion and has achieved greater intelligibility because of its commitment to a rational vision of science and historiography.

This paper revisits the main thoughts of the Filipino historian and social critic Renato Constantino on the role of education in the formation of a neocolonial and postcolonial consciousness. It suggests that Constantino’s critical stance towards education embodies a type of philosophizing about education that centers on the problematization of the language of instruction, on the rendering of voice to those in the margins of Philippine society, and on taking a critical stance about education itself. It suggests further that (...) this form of philosophizing about education and its instrumentalities is prospective of a Freirean liberating pedagogy that is inherently nonneutral, critical, dialogical, praxical, and transformative. (shrink)

The recent in vitro derivation of gamete‐like cells from mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells is a major breakthrough and lays down several challenges, both for the further scientific investigation and for the bioethical and biolegal discourse. We refer here to these cells as gamete‐like (sperm‐like or oocyte‐like, respectively), because at present there is still no evidence that these cells behave fully like bona fide sperm or oocytes, lacking the fundamental proof, i.e. combination with a normally derived gamete of the opposite (...) sex to yield a normal individual. However, the results published so far do show that these cells share some defining features of gametes. We discuss these results in the light of the bioethical and legal questions that are likely to arise would the same process become possible with human embryonic stem (hES) cells. (shrink)

Se, por um lado, o pensamento filosófico não pode submeter-se a nenhum desígnio que lhe seja extrínseco, sob pena de se negar, por outro, não pode alhear-se do espaço-tempo onde emerge e se afirma como tal. Tornou-se entretanto urna evidência que Portugal está hoje num processo de viragem estratégica. Depois de, no rescaldo da descolonização, ter apostado tudo na integração europeia, voltando as costas ao espaço lusófono, importa agora que, Portugal, sem voltar as costas à Europa, aposte de novo na (...) convergência lusófona, ou seja, no reforço dos laços com os restantes países e regiões do espaço da lusofonia. A nosso ver, os estudos filosóficos a realizar em Portugal devem ter em conta essa viragem estratégica, promovendo-a na sua área. A Universidade Portuguesa tem, a esse respeito, uma acrescida responsabilidade. Ela deve liderar, no plano reflexivo, essa viragem estratégica. Se não o fizer, a Universidade Portuguesa condenar-se-á à irrelevância. Não há aqui meio termo – ou ela assume a responsabilidade de liderar, no plano reflexivo, essa viragem estratégica em prol da convergencia lusófona ou ela falha, por inteiro, a sua missão. Por isso lembramos aqui o pensamento de Agostinho da Silva. Philosophical thinking can not submit to any plan that is extrinsic to it, for it cannot distance itself from the space-time from which it emerges. It has now become quite evident that Portugal is now in the process of a strategic change. Once, in the aftermath of decolonization, having waged everything on European integration and turning its back to Lusophone countries, Portugal must now, without rejecting Europe, bet again on Lusophone convergence, i.e., the strengthening of ties with other countries and regions of the Lusophone space. In our view, the philosophical studies to take place in Portugal should take into account of this strategic change. A Portuguese university has, in this respect, an increased responsibility. It should lead in this strategic change in the domain of philosophical reflection. If not, the Portuguese university will condemn ourselves to irrelevance. There is no middle ground here – either it assumes the responsibility to lead in this area, or it will fail in its mission. It is in this context that we remember the thought of Agostinho da Silva. (shrink)

For many years, psychological–clinical research has been aiming at studying the Mafia from different viewpoints: the man of honor's inner world, relational and psychopathological structures of his family matrices, connections between inner and social worlds, interiorized and social rules. Today, however, a complex phenomenon has come to light, which concerns the great connection between the Mafia and financial crime, and for us as researchers it is very interesting and complicated to analyze, because it involves the study of psychological peculiarities that (...) can be specifically found in the numerous illegalities. The crossbreeding of the various criminalities, which are always more interacting and merging and less isolated, makes this picture even more complex. (shrink)

We analyze the results from three different risk attitude elicitation methods. First, the broadly used test by Holt and Laury, HL, second, the lottery-panel task by Sabater-Grande and Georgantzis, SG, and third, responses to a survey question on self-assessment of general attitude towards risk. The first and the second task are implemented with real monetary incentives, while the third concerns all domains in life in general. Like in previous studies, the correlation of decisions across tasks is low and usually statistically (...) non-significant. However, when we consider only subjects whose behavior across the panels of the SG task is compatible with constant relative risk aversion, the correlation between HL and self-assessed risk attitude becomes significant. Furthermore, the correlation between HL and SG also increases for CRRA-compatible subjects, although it remains statistically non-significant. (shrink)

This article discusses the definition of and relationship between two political views of the state: the rule of law of the liberal political tradition, which had its origins in the realm of the political philosophy of modern legal naturalism, and the Hegelian view of the state, which influenced the right-wing and left-wing alternatives to the liberal state in the 19th and 20th centuries. Freedom and equality, political democracy and social democracy, liberalism and socialism are the central thematic poles of this (...) debate. After the end of Nazism after World War II and the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the state of law appears as the hegemonic and dominant political theory in the present. However, the reemergence of the debate between libertarians and communitarians, mainly in the Anglo-Saxon world, shows that the issues of the previous debate have not been solved yet and that they reappear, although in different contexts and with different meanings, in their whole complexity and dramatic character. This article attempts to define, using the human rights language, some of these crucial issues for contemporary political theory and to make proposals for the construction of a “republican” ethics and politics. Key words: Liberalism, Socialism, Democracy, Rule of law, Ethical state. (shrink)