In June 2016, David Chalmers delivered the Petrus Hispanus Lectures at the LanCog research group, University of Lisbon, on the subject of objects, properties, and perception in virtual reality environments. The paper resulting from these lectures was subsequently published in Disputatio as “The Virtual and the Real” (vol. IX, 2017, No. 46, pp. 309–52). In it, Chalmers defends virtual realism, according to which virtual objects are bona fide digital objects with virtual counterparts of perceptible properties such as colour and (...) shape, and perception in virtual reality environments is typically veridical rather than illusory. This special issue collects responses to Chalmers due to Claus Beisbart, Jesper Juul, Peter Ludlow, Neil McDonnell and Nathan Wildman, Alyssa Ney, Eric Schwitzgebel, and Marc Silcox; together with a detailed response by Chalmers to each paper. You can read the target article (Chalmers 2017, “The Virtual and the Real”) under discussion in this Special Issue here: https://doi.org/10.1515/disp-2017-0009. (shrink)

Interpersonal coordination in soccer has become a trending topic in sports sciences, and several studies have examined how interpersonal coordination unfolds at different levels (i.e., dyads, sub-groups, teams). Investigations have largely focused on interactional behaviors at micro and macro levels through tasks from dyadic (i.e., 1 vs. 1) to team (i.e., 11 vs. 11) levels. However, as the degree of representativeness of a task depends on the magnitude of the relationship between simulated and intended environments, it is necessary to address (...) a discussion on the correspondence between competitive and practice/experimental settings in soccer. The aims of this paper are to: (i) provide a brief description of the main concepts underlying the subject of interpersonal coordination in sports teams; (ii) demonstrate, through exemplar research findings, how interpersonal coordination in soccer unfolds at different scales; and (iii), discuss how coaches and researchers may ensure representativeness for practice and experimental tasks. We observed that papers addressing the analysis of interpersonal coordination tendencies in soccer often resort to dyadic (one vs. one) or sub-group (many vs. many) experimental tasks, instead of full-sized (11 vs. 11) games. Consequently, the extent to which such patterns reflect those observed in competition is somewhat uncertain. The design of practice and/or experimental tasks that rely on sub-phases of the game (e.g., 1 vs. 1, 4 vs. 4) should ensure the preservation of players’ behavior patterns in intended match conditions (11 vs. 11). This can be accomplished by measuring the level of action fidelity of the task, ensuring correspondence and successful transfer across contexts. (shrink)

This essay explores the ontological movement of poetry, its language and words, by establishing a dialogue with the thought of three Japanese thinkers, Ki no Tsurayuki, Motoori Norinaga and Fujitani Mitsue, and the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. The overall purpose, as we progress from one to the other, is to present, explore and disclose a horizon where poetry gradually becomes the locus of a philosophy of language that places it at the genesis of mutual understanding, ethics and, thus, of community.

Resumo: A teoria marxiana do trabalho alienado ocupa um papel de destaque na Filosofia política moderna. Seguindo a esteira de Hegel, Marx concebe o homem como sendo o produto de sua própria atividade, isto é, a autoproduçáo do homem pelo trabalho. Isso significa que o ser humano náo é um ser que nasce acabado, mas que se desenvolve como ser humano enquanto desenvolve as potencialidades que lhe sáo inerentes. Imerso no estudo da sociedade capitalista, Marx percebe como nela se interdita (...) esse postulado da autoproduçáo do homem pelo trabalho. Mas, se a realizaçáo da humanidade depende da genuína atividade produtiva, do exercício do trabalho, sem alienar-se em relaçáo ao seu produto, surge a necessidade de se criarem alternativas frente a esse modo de produçáo, no intuito de se assegurarem as condições de realizaçáo da humanidade do trabalhador. As condições para o exercício do trabalho náo-alienado seráo superadas, na medida em que se superar a propriedade privada e a divisáo social do trabalho. E na linha de pensamento de Marx, a tese de que o trabalho perdeu sua centralidade náo tem lugar. Vale dizer que, se tal tese fosse admitida, seriam suprimidas as condições de realizaçáo do ser humano, pois, para Marx, trabalho e o desenvolvimento das potencialidades humanas sáo indissociáveis. O que precisa ser superado é o trabalho alienado e náo o trabalho como tal. Palavras-Chave: Divisáo do Trabalho. Marx. Propriedade Privada. Trabalho Alienado. (shrink)

We worry about becoming non-existent, but not about coming into being. But both events are similarly bad according to Deprivationism; hence, it seems that we should display symmetric attitudes towards both. This entails the implausible conclusion that we should display negative attitudes towards the time of our birth. In a series of articles Brueckner and Fischer offered one of the most prominent attempts to block this conclusion by appealing to a temporal bias towards future pleasures. Inspired by Yi’s criticism of (...) their view, we argue that there is an appropriate sense of deprivation in which late birth can deprive of future pleasures. Hence, Brueckner and Fischer’s Temporal Bias does not explain the attitudinal asymmetry. In addition, to make sure that one picks out the appropriate sense of deprivation, we offer a restriction, the Historical Condition, that prevents us from considering that every value one would otherwise have is value that one was deprived of due to one’s actual birth/death. Finally, we present a novel account for the attitudinal asymmetry that relies on what we call ‘Interests Proximity Bias’. (shrink)

The new wave of ‘foundation models’—general-purpose generative AI models, for production of text (e.g., ChatGPT) or images (e.g., MidJourney)—represent a dramatic advance in the state of the art for AI. But their use also introduces a range of new risks, which has prompted an ongoing conversation about possible regulatory mechanisms. Here we propose a specific principle that should be incorporated into legislation: that any organization developing a foundation model intended for public use must demonstrate a reliable detection mechanism for the (...) content it generates, as a condition of its public release. The detection mechanism should be made publicly available in a tool that allows users to query, for an arbitrary item of content, whether the item was generated (wholly or partly) by the model. In this paper, we argue that this requirement is technically feasible and would play an important role in reducing certain risks from new AI models in many domains. We also outline a number of options for the tool’s design, and summarize a number of points where further input from policymakers and researchers would be required. (shrink)

A conflict of interest is a situation in which a person has competing loyalties or interests that make it difficult to fulfil his or her duties impartially. Conflict of interest is not categorically improper in itself but requires proper management. A SCOPUS literature search was performed for publications on the efficacy/safety of Phospho-Di-Esterase Inhibitors for treating erectile dysfunction. A categorization tool was used to review and classify the publications as supportive/not-supportive for the discussed active ingredient and reporting or not reporting (...) a COI for that specific drug or for the remaining PDEIs. Multivariable binary logistic regression was performed. In the 419 selected records the prevalence of supportive opinions was higher when a COI for the index label was declared. The CoOpCaT showed good internal consistency, discriminative validity and intra/inter-rater agreement. The strongest predictor for a supportive opinion was the total number of financial COIs for the index label. A mild protective effect of the total number of financial COIs for any competitor label was noted. Financial COIs have frequently been associated with bias, and the measures currently adopted to restrain it lack effectiveness. Some evidence for monitoring and/or compensating this bias is reported here, but the ultimate solution remains distant. (shrink)

Este artigo apresenta a teoria supervalorativista da vagueza e discute a objecção, que frequentemente lhe é dirigida, segundo a qual essa teoria não consegue dar conta do fenómeno da vagueza de ordem superior.

The semantic paradoxes are a family of arguments – including the liar paradox, Curry’s paradox, Grelling’s paradox of heterologicality, Richard’s and Berry’s paradoxes of definability, and others – which have two things in common: first, they make an essential use of such semantic concepts as those of truth, satisfaction, reference, definition, etc.; second, they seem to be very good arguments until we see that their conclusions are contradictory or absurd. These arguments raise serious doubts concerning the coherence of the concepts (...) involved. This article will offer an introduction to some of the main theories that have been proposed to solve the paradoxes and avert those doubts. Included is also a brief history of the semantic paradoxes from Eubulides to Tarski and Curry. (shrink)

Exploro os conceitos de campo e de estado de exceção e tento mostrar como Giorgio Agamben, por um lado, é coerente com sua obra, além de estar certo no diagnóstico do presente, mas, por outro, exagera na desconfiança da real mortalidade do Coronavírus e, também, como este posicionamento do filósofo italiano não serve à experiência brasileira, especialmente quanto à problemática de uma aparente concordância do ministro Araújo do Governo Bolsonaro com seu alerta para o estado de exceção permanente.

Epistemological disjunctivism is a philosophical theory that has received special attention in the recent years. Particularly because it has been seen by many as a way of renewing discussions that range from the nature of justification of our daily beliefs to the possibility of unveiling the structure of the problem of radical skepticism and of responding to it. Duncan Pritchard is one of the authors who have offered a particular view of disjunctivism and ways of conceiving of disjunctivist treatments to (...) such questions. His work has as its main source of inspiration the seminal work of John McDowell. In this paper, I present a way of understanding the problem ofradicalskepticism and the mannerin which epistemological disjunctivism aimsto offer solutionsto it. In orderto do that, I present McDowell’s general proposal and discuss in which way his account differs from Pritchard’s own disjunctivism. At the end, I try to show how Pritchard’s approach tries to respond to radical skepticism not only by appealing to a disjunctivist reading of our epistemic position, but also by offering a revision of our structure of reasons. (shrink)

Most words in natural language are vague, that is to say, they lack sharp boundaries and, hence, they have (actual or potential) borderline cases, where the word in question neither definitely applies nor definitely fails to apply. Vagueness gives rise to paradoxes, the best known of which is the sorites (concerned with how many grains of sand are needed to make a heap). Besides offering a solution to such paradoxes, a theory of vagueness should systematically describe how the truth conditions (...) of sentences with vague terms are determined; and it should also define the right logical principles for reasoning with such sentences. This article offers an introduction to the main theories of vagueness and to the problems they have to face. (shrink)

Graphical displays of simple moving geometrical figures have been repeatedly used to study the attribution of animacy in human observers. Yet little is known about the relevant movement characteristics responsible for this experience. The present study introduces a novel parametric research paradigm, which allows for the experimental control of specific motion parameters and a predictable influence on the attribution of animacy. Two experiments were conducted using 3D computer animations of one or two objects systematically introducing variations in the following aspects (...) of motion: directionality, discontinuity and responsiveness. Both experiments further varied temporal kinematics. Results showed that animacy experience increased with the time a moving object paused in the vicinity of a second object and with increasing complexity of interaction between the objects . The experience of animacy could be successfully modulated in a parametric fashion by the systematic variation of comparably simple differential movement characteristics. (shrink)

O ensaio tentar realizar um exercício hermenêutico de explicitar os sentidos de tempo que surgem no poema O tempo o homem, do poeta paraense Max Martins. Neste ensaio, as premissas interpretativas partem sobretudo do pensamento do filósofo paraense Benedito Nunes, tendo, no horizonte a Ontologia fundamental de Martin Heidegger, mas também de outros pensadores, como Giorgio Agamben. Além disto, o horizonte hermenêutico deste ensaio alcança um dos poetas que marcaram determinantemente a poesia de Max Marins, que foi seu amigo Mário (...) Faustino. Assim, o problema central desta investigação ensaística é a busca por saber o sentido dos tempos Ampulheta, Era, hera e Hora. A hipótese é que o aporte hermenêutico fenomenológico desenvolvido por Benedito Nunes para a relação dialógica, de “transa”, entre poesia e filosofia, viabilizada pelo que chamou de “passagem para o poético” (Kehre), oferece a tese de que o poema de Max Martins é um poema sobre o próprio poetar e sobre a “aventura” enquanto “evento” (Ereignis) da Hora que o artista faz. (shrink)

Physiological responses in futsal have not been studied together with temporal information about the players’ stay on the court. The aim of this study was to compare heart rate and blood lactate concentration responses between 1-H and 2-H considering the time of permanency of the players on the court at each substitution in a futsal match. HR was recorded during entire match and [La−] was analyzed after each substitution of seven players. %HRmean and [La−] mean did not differ between 1-H (...) and 2-H. Time in intensity zones of 50–100 %HRmax differed only in 60–70 %HRmax. HR coefficient of variation throughout the match was low and among the four outfield players on the court. Substitutions, time of permanence on the court, ratio between time in- and out-ratio on the court also were similar between 1-H and 2-H. Balancing the number of substitutions, and the In:Outcourt ratio of players in both halves of the match, playing lower time at 1-H, ~8 min for each participation in the match, made it possible to maintain intensity of the match in 2-H similar to the 1H. These results are a good guidance to coaches and for application in future studies. (shrink)

RESUMO O presente estudo analisa a narrativa de Milton Hatoum utilizando como corpus as crônicas “Um sonhador” e “Margens secas da cidade”. Objetiva problematizar as características discursivas e estéticas da criação literária de Hatoum, a partir da perspectiva dialógica proposta por Mikhail Bakhtin, explorando, no discurso artístico-literário do escritor amazonense, as posições axiológicas refratadas em sua narrativa. Relaciona ainda a perspectiva epistemológica de Boaventura Santos acerca do desperdício da experiência social na modernidade/pós-modernidade, discutindo a crítica ao paradigma da racionalidade (...) atual denominado pelo autor de razão indolente. As análises iniciais alicerçadas nestas abordagens teórico-metodológicas evidenciam indícios, na narrativa cronística de Hatoum, que a aproxima de uma perspectiva contra-hegemônica e responsiva de representação literária. Pretende, assim, com esta inter-relação entre literatura, dialogismo e teoria do conhecimento, evidenciar as imbricações existentes entre o discurso sócio-histórico-econômico produzido pela crítica à modernidade/pós-modernidade e o discurso literário de Milton Hatoum. ABSTRACT This study analyzes Milton Hatoum’s narrative using the crônicas Um sonhador [A Dreamer] and Margens secas da cidade [Dry Riverbanks of the City] as corpus. It aims to ascertain the discursive and aesthetic characteristics of Hatoum’s literary creation from the dialogical perspective proposed by Mikhail Bakhtin, exploring the artistic-literary discourse of the Amazonian writer, the axiological positions refracted in his narrative. It also relates Boaventura Santos’ epistemological perspective about the waste of social experience in modernity/post-modernity, discussing the criticism of the paradigm of current rationality called by the author as indolent reason. Initial analysis based on these theoretical-methodological approaches show evidence in Hatoum’s cronistic narrative that brings it closer to a counter-hegemonic and responsive perspective of literary representation. Thus, with this inter-relationship among literature, dialogism and theory of knowledge, we intend to highlight the existing overlaps between the socio-historical and economic discourse produced by the critique of modernity / postmodernity and literary discourse of Milton Hatoum. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that the cleavage between the theory of reference and the theory of meaning, which under the influence of Quine has dominated a large part of the philosophy of language of the last fifty years, is based on a misrepresentation of Tarski's achievement and on an overestimation of the scope and value of disquotation. In particular, I show that, if we accept Davidson's critique of disquotation, the same kind of reasons that Quine offered in opposition to (...) the Carnapian theory of meaning also apply, mutatis mutandis, to the Tarskian theory of reference. (shrink)

RESUMEN Se fundamenta la concepción teórica general de la educación axiológica en el contexto del sistema de enseñanza de postgrado para la formación de educadores ambientales. Se aplicaron los métodos del nivel teórico analítico-sintético, inductivo-deductivo, histórico-lógico y ascensión de lo abstracto a lo concreto, con la intención de sistematizar información proveniente de la bibliografía consultada y de la experiencia profesional de los autores. Se defiende la idea de considerar la existencia de una dimensión ambiental de valores universales, en lugar de (...) hacer referencia a valores estrictamente ambientales. Se enfatiza en la importancia que, para la educación, adquiere la estimulación de la actividad valorativa del sujeto, a partir de una noción precisa del sistema de virtudes y fortalezas del carácter. Se identifican cinco valores básicos a desarrollar en el educador ambiental, para asegurar, desde el punto de vista axiológico, su desempeño en la preparación de diferentes sectores sociales y consolidar la necesaria contribución de los mismos a la sostenibilidad ecológica. ABSTRACT In this paper a general theoretical conception of axiological education is systematized in the context of the postgraduate educational system in the training of environmental educators. Methods of the theoretic level to systematize information obtained from the bibliography and from the vocational experience of the author. The category value is analyzed aimed at using it unilaterally from the environmental perspective and it is concluded that it is much more objective, from the theoretical point of view, to assume the existence of an environmental dimension of universal values ​​rather than of strictly environmental values. It emphasizes on the importance of the stimulation of the person’s valuating activity for education, from a precise notion of the system of virtues and character strengths. Five basic values are identified ​​ to be developed in an environmental educator to ensure, from the axiological point of view, his performance in the preparation of different social sectors to strengthen their necessary contribution to ecological sustainability. (shrink)

Tradução anotada do Grego para o Português.

In the first part of De Interpretatione 9, Aristotle introduces an argument for fatalism that he obviously does not subscribe to. Readers of the chapter wonder how Aristotle replies to that argument. In this paper I claim that the main basis of his reply is the principle of equimodality stated in 19a33 (“statements are true in the same way as the actual things are”). I defend that this principle should be interpreted in the most straightforward way, as saying that the (...) modality with which any statement is true is the same as the modality with which the actual things referred to in the statement are what they are. This entails that something is (or will be) necessarily such and such only if the statement saying that it is (or will be) such and such is necessarily true. By applying this principle to Aristotle’s distinction between two kinds of non-necessary things – those that happen as chance has it and those that happen for the most part (hôs epi to poly) in one way rather than another –, one should conclude that, because these things are contingent, statements about them can only be contingently true. (shrink)

Title in English: "Being a certain way without being definitely that way: a problem for supervaluationism". I argue that the supervaluationist theory of vagueness, in its most common version, is committed to a thesis – viz., the incompatibility between being-F and not-being-definitely-F – which is doubtful, unjustified and in conflict with the definition of super-truth as truth in all admissible precisifications of a vague language.

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether there are morally defensible reasons for using or operating websites that offer distributed denial-of-service attacks on a specified target to users for a price. Booters have been linked to some of the most powerful DDoS attacks in recent years. Design/methodology/approach The authors identify the various parties associated with booter websites and the means through which booters operate. Then, the authors present and evaluate the two arguments that they claim may be used to justify (...) operating and using booters: that they are a useful tool for testing the ability of networks and servers to handle heavy traffic, and that they may be used to perform DDoS attacks as a form of civil disobedience on the internet. Findings The authors argue that the characteristics of existing booters disqualify them from being morally justified as network stress testing tools or as a means of performing civil disobedience. The use of botnets that include systems without the permission of their owners undermines the legitimacy of both justifications. While a booter that does not use any third-party systems without permission might in principle be justified under certain conditions, the authors argue that it is unlikely that any existing booters meet these requirements. Practical/implications Law enforcement agencies may use the arguments presented here to justify shutting down the operation of booters, and so reduce the number of DDoS attacks on the internet. Originality/value The value of this work is in critically examining the potential justifications for using and operating booter websites and in further exploring the ethical aspects of using DDoS attacks as a form of civil disobedience. (shrink)

One of the foundational problems of biochemistry concerns the conceptualisation of the relationship between the composition, structure and function of macromolecules like proteins. Part of the recent philosophical literature displays a reductionist bias, that is, the endorsement of a form of microstructuralism mirroring an out-dated biochemical conceptualisation. We shall argue that such microstructuralist approaches are ultimately committed to a potentialist form of micro-predeterminism whereby the macrostructure and function of proteins is accounted for solely in terms of the intrinsic properties and (...) potentialities of the components of the primary structure as if they were self-contained or essentially immutable entities. We shall instead suggest that a conceptualisation of the relationship between proteins’ composition, structure and function consistent with contemporary biochemical practice should account also for the causal role of the cellular, organismal and environmental relations in protein development. The analysis of the folding process we propose suggests that microstructure-laden reductionist approaches are ontologically indefensible. Rather than a potentialist form of micro-predeterminism, our analysis ultimately supports a relational-construction-based view of protein development and potentialities formation, which requires an indispensable analysis of the dynamical interplay between the micro-level of the parts and the macro-level of the relational structures of their systems. (shrink)

Este artigo apresenta um projeto de pesquisa clínica qualitativa, que busca compreender a função da família, seu caráter de transmissão, no que se refere à constituição subjetiva da criança, considerando as profundas transformações contemporâneas das instituições, inclusive da família. Propomos uma discussão sobre a temática em articulação com a educação, abordando-a no contexto social e avançando para perspectiva psicanalítica. Notamos que a noção de função da psicanálise pode nos fazer avançar teórica e clinicamente na tentativa de superar modelos parentais ou (...) de comportamentos que supostamente pudessem garantir um desenvolvimento adequado à criança, permitindo a problematização dos ideais de família marcantes em nosso imaginário social e a reflexão sobre seus possíveis impactos na saúde mental dos aprendentes, familiares e educadores nos contextos educativos. (shrink)

Science fiction has been an inexhaustible source for the creation of technoscientific imaginary that has marked certain historical periods and influenced the production of subjectivity. This imaginary evokes complex ontological, epistemological, political, social, environmental and existential questions on the present and the future. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the cultural productions accessed by the public to form an opinion about the genetic manipulation of human beings. A survey about sources of information that influence opinions on (...) the genetic manipulation of human beings was applied to 360 medical students (70.8% female). Movies were the most commonly mentioned source of information, followed by books, documentaries, news programs, television series, informational videos, soap operas and videogames. Science fiction was the most frequent genre and dystopian views of the future of humanity predominated. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to present, in a clear and accessible way, Donald Davidson's anomalous monism. I stress that what distinguishes Davidson's monism from other identity theories of the mind is the conjunction of an identity thesis (viz. the thesis that every mental event is a physical event) with an anti-reductionist argument, according to which there are no strict psychophysical laws.

In 1876, Brazilian physical anthropologists De Lacerda and Peixoto published findings of detailed anatomical and osteometric investigation of the new human skull collection of Rio de Janeiro’s Museu Nacional. They argued not only that the Indigenous ‘Botocudo’ in Brazil might be autochthonous to the New World, but also that they shared analogic proximity to other geographically very distant human groups – the New Caledonians and Australians – equally attributed limited cranial capacity and resultant inferior intellect. Described by Blumenbach and Morton, (...) ‘Botocudo’ skulls were highly valued scientific specimens in 19th-century physical anthropology. A recent genomic study has again related ‘the Botocudo’ to Indigenous populations from the other side of the world by identifying ‘Polynesian ancestry’ in two of 14 Botocudo skulls held at the Museu Nacional. This article places the production of scientific knowledge in multidisciplinary, multiregional historical perspectives. We contextualize modern narratives in the biological sciences relating ‘Botocudo’ skulls and other cranial material from lowland South America to Polynesia, Melanesia, and Australia. With disturbing irony, such studies often unthinkingly reinscribe essentialized historic racial categories such as ‘the Botocudos’, ‘the Polynesians’, and ‘the Australo-Melanesians’. We conclude that the fertile alliance of intersecting sciences that is revolutionizing understandings of deep human pasts must be informed by sensitivity to the deep histories of terms, classification schemes, and the disciplines themselves. (shrink)

A Teoria da Justiça de John Rawls apresenta princípios de liberdade e de igualdade equitativa de oportunidade destinados à construção de uma sociedade substancialmente justa. Para Rawls, sendo um empreendimento cooperativo para o benefício de todos, a estrutura social básica deve garantir vantagens a todos, especialmente aos mais necessitados. Em harmonia com a concepção de que as desigualdades sociais e econômicas somente podem ser aceitas diante da existência de vantagens efetivas dos menos afortunados, a teoria rawlsiana evidencia que os sistemas (...) econômicos não podem estar desvinculados dos princípios de justiça e das questões morais. (shrink)

Introduction: The importance attached to ethical practice and related informed consent varies among health professionals and is further influenced by working environments, level of knowledge, experience and societal values and beliefs. The objective of this study is to evaluate the ethical conduct of professors, undergraduates and graduate students through questionnaires answered by patients. Methods: One hundred twenty patients at the dental clinics of three different dental schools in São Paulo State were interviewed based on objective and discursive questions about signed (...) informed consent, participation in scientific research, photographs during treatment, requested saliva samples, tooth donation requests, and information about tooth destination after removal. A frequency distribution was used for a statistical analysis of the data. Results: In all, 65.8% of the patients had given signed informed consent for treatment and 12.5% had not done so; 10.8% did not know if they had participated in scientific research; 54.2% were photographed during dental procedures and 47.1% of them had signed an authorization form; 6.6% were requested to provide a saliva sample and 66.6% of them had signed an authorization form to that effect; 16.1% had a tooth donation requested and 64.4% of them had signed an authorization form to that effect; and 61.3% did not know the destination of the tooth after removal, when donation was not requested. Conclusions: The majority of the patients had signed an informed consent form for treatment, photographs, saliva samples and tooth donation. This demonstrated ethical conduct towards patients on the part of professors, undergraduates and graduate students. doi: 10.5294/pebi.2017.21.1.2. (shrink)

[From SEP]: Contemporary virtue epistemology (hereafter ‘VE’) is a diverse collection of approaches to epistemology. At least two central tendencies are discernible among the approaches. First, they view epistemology as a normative discipline. Second, they view intellectual agents and communities as the primary focus of epistemic evaluation, with a focus on the intellectual virtues and vices embodied in and expressed by these agents and communities. This entry introduces many of the most important results of the contemporary VE research program. These (...) include novel attempts to resolve longstanding disputes, solve perennial problems, grapple with novel challenges, and expand epistemology’s horizons. In the process, it reveals the diversity within VE. Beyond sharing the two unifying commitments mentioned above, its practitioners diverge over the nature of intellectual virtues, which questions to ask, and which methods to use. It will be helpful to note some terminology before proceeding. First, we use ‘cognitive’, ‘epistemic’ and ‘intellectual’ synonymously. Second, we often use ‘normative’ broadly to include not only norms and rules, but also duties and values. Finally, ‘practitioners’ names contemporary virtue epistemologists. (shrink)

In this paper, Charles Mills discusses what he calls “white ignorance”, developing one of the main themes of his 1997 book, The Racial Contract. His discussion is concerned with the idea of a cognitive disadvantage based on membership in a social group, which is not strange to the radical philosophical tradition, and that has been explored with more vigor in the recent Social Epistemology, in debates about epistemic injustices, silencing, willful ignorance, cognitive biases, epistemological standpoints, etc. Mills argues for an (...) “Epistemology of the white ignorance”, a racially and socially situated epistemology, which contraposes itself, in a great extent, to the individualistic tendencies of the traditional epistemological work, while conserving the interests in objectivity and truth of this work. (shrink)

O presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar o conceito de diáspora e as novas linhas de investigação intelectuais abertas a partir do uso crescente do conceito, em especial, na música da diáspora Africana. Faz uma reflexão sobre o legado da filosofia moderna no processo de esvaziamento da possibilidade reflexiva da música negra, bem como, identifica no marcador da diáspora a condição desestabilizadora de absolutismos nacionais da música no Brasil que foram, diferentemente de outros assentamentos africanos da diáspora, ligados a creolização (...) e hibridação, influenciada pela fundamentação de mestiçagem que promoveu uma centralização na figura do “popular” e do “folclórico” das manifestações da música da diáspora africana no Brasil. Nesse contexto informa o “momento” de recepção da ideia de Diáspora Africana e como ela legitima o discurso da música negra no Brasil reagindo aos valores e padrões de um sistema de representações que restringem o acesso às culturas diaspóricas a sua reflexividade. Palavras-chave: África, Diáspora, Música Negra, Relações Raciais, pós-colonialismo. (shrink)

We argue that Anthropocentrism – the kind of speciesism that privilegies the human species – is morally unacceptable. We distinguish and criticize three varieties of Anthropocentrism: unqualified, qualified empirical and qualified non-empirical. Firstly, unqualified Anthropocentrism is dismissed because it is grounded on a moral principle which implies that discriminations like racism and sexism are justified. Secondly, qualified empirical Anthropocentrism falls victim to the marginal cases argument, an argument that shows that properties which allegedly attribute moral status to every human and (...) to no animal, ultimately, if they exclude every animal, they also exclude some humans. Lastly, qualified non-empirical Anthropocentrism is rejected due to implausible consequences about which individuals have moral status. After rejecting Anthropocentrism, we consider a generalization of the marginal cases argument against all forms of speciesism. We show that only a species entirely comprised of essentially moral individuals would be unaffected by this argument. However, the possibility of such a species has limited practical import. Contrarily, Anthropocentrism’s moral unacceptability requires profound changes in the way humans relate with animals. (shrink)

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)

When an English translation of Being and Event appeared in 2005, Alain Badiou took the opportunity to reminisce about the initial French publication some twenty years before: “at that moment I was quite aware of having written a ‘great’ book of philosophy.” He located that greatness in four “affirmations” and one “radical thesis.”.

Este artigo pretende confrontar duas noções acerca da noção de liberdade, temática central na Filosofia Política. De um lado, partiremos de algumas reflexões do liberalismo político, onde no primeiro momento, exploraremos a obra Dois Conceitos de Liberdade, de Isaiah Berlin. Para esse autor a liberdade negativa e, não a liberdade positiva, deve ser a maior preocupação dos corpos políticos, ou seja, o Estado deve existir para evitar que a liberdade individual seja reduzida pela própria interferência do Estado ou de outros (...) sujeitos. De encontro a essa ideia, e ancorados em Arendt, desejamos sustentar que um dos grandes problemas do liberalismo político é a não ação, isto é, a falta de participação do cidadão nos assuntos e nas decisões políticas. Ao mostrar isso, defenderemos em Arendt o papel central da liberdade positiva da ação e da fala, e, consequentemente, a possibilidade de um republicanismo cívico como alternativa ao isolamento e apatia políticas gestados pela liberdade burguesa, uma vez que, para Arendt, a aposta de Berlin e da tradição liberal são insuficientes para pensarmos os acontecimentos da política contemporânea. Palavras-chave: Política; Liberdade; Liberalismo; Cidadania; Arendt. (shrink)