Starting from the phase space representation of quantum mechanics we provide an Euclidean system of covariance for the photon. In particular, we consider systems with the Poincaré group as the symmetry group and use a standard procedure in order to build a phase space and a localization observable on the phase space. Then we focus on the massless representations of the Poincaré group that we use to build a space localization observable for the photon.

The persistent educational challenges that fractions pose call for developing novel instructional methods to better prepare students for fraction learning. Here, we examined the effects of a 24-session, Cuisenaire rod intervention on a building block for symbolic fraction knowledge, continuous and discrete non-symbolic proportional reasoning, in children who have yet to receive fraction instruction. Participants were 34 second-graders who attended the intervention (intervention group) and 15 children who did not participate in any sessions (control group). As attendance at the intervention (...) sessions was irregular (median = 15.6 sessions, range = 1–24), we specifically examined the effect of the number of sessions completed on their non-symbolic proportional reasoning. Our results showed that children who attended a larger number of sessions increased their ability to compare non-symbolic continuous proportions. However, contrary to our expectations, they also decreased their ability to compare misleading discretized proportions. In contrast, children in the Control group did not show any change in their performance. These results provide further evidence on the malleability of non-symbolic continuous proportional reasoning and highlight the rigidity of counting knowledge interference on discrete proportional reasoning. (shrink)

To a greater extent than in other technical domains, research and progress in Artificial Intelligence has always been entwined with the fictional. Its language echoes strongly with other forms of cultural narratives, such as fairytales, myth and religion. In this essay we present varied examples that illustrate how these analogies have guided not only readings of the AI enterprise by commentators outside the community but also inspired AI researchers themselves. Owing to their influence, we pay particular attention to the similarities (...) between religious language and the way in which the potential advent of greater than human intelligence is presented contemporarily. We then move on to the role that fiction, science fiction most of all, has historically played and is still playing in the discussion of AI by influencing researchers and the public, shifting the weights of different scenarios in our collectively perceived probability space. We sum up by arguing that the lore surrounding AI research, ancient and modern, points to the ancestral and shared human motivations that drive researchers in their pursuit and fascinate humanity at large. These points of narrative entanglement where AI meets the wider culture should serve to amplify the call to engage ourselves with the discussion of the potential destination of this technology. (shrink)

This paper argues that some of the misunderstandings surrounding the meaning and function of the concept of human dignity in bioethics arise from a lack of distinction between two different roles that this notion plays: one as an overarching policy principle, and the other as a moral standard of patient care. While the former is a very general concept which fulfils a foundational and a guiding role of the normative framework governing biomedical issues, the latter reflects a much more concrete (...) and context-specific understanding of the patient as a “person”. The importance of dignity as a policy principle will be described by appealing to the distinction between principles and rules as developed by some legal philosophers. The value of dignity as a standard of patient care will be illustrated with the help of concrete examples and by drawing on the taxonomies of dignity proposed by Jonathan Mann and other scholars. The overall scope of the article is to highlight this double and complementary role of human dignity in bioethics. (shrink)

We investigate certain Brouwer-Zadeh lattices that serve as abstract counterparts of lattices of effects in Hilbert spaces under the spectral ordering. These algebras, called PBZ*-lattices, can also be seen as generalisations of orthomodular lattices and are remarkable for the collapse of three notions of “sharpness” that are distinct in general Brouwer-Zadeh lattices. We investigate the structure theory of PBZ*-lattices and their reducts; in particular, we prove some embedding results for PBZ*-lattices and provide an initial description of the lattice of PBZ*-varieties.

I argue that part of Plato's strategy to neutralize the paradox of falsehood is to pin down various referents of the name 'being', τὸ ὄν. I focus on four and track their role in the dialogue's argument. They are: (1) any primary being; (2) the Kind Being; (3) any participant in the Kind Being; (4) a set of participants in the Kind Being.

El debate central en filosofía de la imagen se articula en torno a la oposición entre un enfoque semiótico, que considera a la imagen como un determinado tipo de signo, y uno perceptualista, que se orienta hacia la captación de imágenes y la caracteriza en su relación con la percepción sensible. Se señalan algunas dificultades de dicha articulación y se analiza el enfoque hermenéutico y la ontología heideggeriana de la imagen para mostrar cómo puede contribuir a renovar el debate, afectando (...) incluso su pregunta conductora. (shrink)

In Metaphysics B 3 Aristotle sets out a famous argument for the thesis that being is not a genus. In his commentary on Metaphysics B, Syrianus criticizes this argument and explains in what sense being is to be regarded as a genus. I reconstruct both Syrianus’ criticisms and his own view. I bring out ways in which they can help us rethink key assumptions of Aristotle’s ontology and shed light both on Syrianus’ critical attitude towards Aristotle and on some of (...) Syrianus’ main views in metaphysics. (shrink)

We introduce the notion of quantum MV algebra (QMV algebra) as a generalization of MV algebras and we show that the class of all effects of any Hilbert space gives rise to an example of such a structure. We investigate some properties of QMV algebras and we prove that QMV algebras represent non-idempotent extensions of orthomodular lattices.

Roberto Gronda & Tullio Viola – Your work is frequently referred to as “pragmatic history.” This notion, however, is by no means a new one: Polybius spoke of pragmatikê historia, Germany had pragmatische Geschichte in the tradition of Kantian anthropology. Can you tell us something about how you understand this label, and about your own encounter with “pragmatic history”? Simona Cerutti – Personally, I had quite an idiosyncratic introduction to pragmatic history, although this encounter was n...

El presente trabajo analiza críticamente la propuesta de Kittler de renovar las ciencias sociales y humanas mediante una reflexión orientada hacia los medios de comunicación. Para ello, se sitúa tal propuesta en el debate, impulsado por el giro medial en Filosofía de los Medios, acerca de la pertinencia (o no) del enfoque trascendentalista sobre los medios. En un primer momento, se presenta en términos generales el planteo kittleriano en cuanto enfoque trascendentalista. En un segundo momento, se reconstruye y analiza la (...) estrategia kittleriana consistente en eliminar la noción de sentido para concentrarse, en cambio, en la noción de información. (shrink)

El artículo analiza el vínculo entre derecho y violencia en Walter Benjamin y Franz Rosenzweig. Primero, se estudia la relación entre Benjamin, Rosenzweig y Carl Schmitt, y, a continuación, la proximidad entre las concepciones benjaminiana y rosenzweiguiana de la historia y de la temporalidad mesiánica, así como la relación entre justicia, derecho y eternidad. Finalmente, se presenta la propuesta derridiana de una deconstrucción de la crítica benjaminiana de la violencia y su antecedente en _La estrella de la redención_.

O tema do artigo é o caráter grego da filosofia entendida como metafísica desde o enfoque permitido pelo pensamento de M. Heidegger (1889-1976). Temos o objetivo de apresentar que a metafísica tem seu ethos em uma experiência grega de origem. Pretendemos validar a hipótese de que: náo pode pretender legitimidade as tentativas de atrair o mérito do surgimento da metafísica para outro solo que o referido . Para fundamentaçáo de nossos argumentos, utilizaremos o comentário de G. Reale e extratos de (...) algumas preleções de G. W. F. Hegel. A problematizaçáo dessas idéias aponta para uma ratificaçáo do caráter grego da filosofia e deste como lugar de sua plena realizaçáo. (shrink)

This volume is inspired by developments in two strands of economic theorising. Firstly, research on structural economic dynamics based on three sources: Hicks' work on traverse analysis, Pasinetti on disproportional growth and Goodwin on dynamic decomposition and economic fluctuations. The second strand goes back to Georgescu-Roegen's interest in an organisational theory of production based upon the interrelationship between tasks, fund factors and material transformations. The approach taken involves a comprehensive view of sub-units of the whole economic system representing dynamics of (...) structural adaptation and compositional change. Furthermore, a detailed representation of micro-organisational features leads to the analysis of networks and networking processes within and amongst such sub-units. (shrink)

In _Sociocybernetics and Political Theory in a Complex World_, Roberto Mancilla offers new takes on known ideas of political and constitutional theory; the advent of information technology and globalization puts them in crisis, as many stem from centuries past.

Ce travail expose et discute la réception de Hans Jonas effectuée au sein de la « science de l’image » (Bildwissenschaft). On présente, en premier lieu, le débat actuel sur l’image dans le cadre de cette Bildwissenschaft. En second lieu, on expose les principaux moments de la réception de Jonas dans ledit contexte et on analyse les positions fondamentales de Jonas à propos de l’image et de l’imagination. Enfin, on évalue les avancées et les limites de la réception de Jonas (...) et on prend en considération quelques positions jonassiennes qui peuvent représenter un apport au débat actuel sur l’image. (shrink)

Este artículo analiza dos proyectos de renovación programática de las Humanidades, los cuales se centran en la noción de información. Consideraremos, por una parte, la propuesta de Friedrich Kittler acerca de un materialismo teórico-informacional, y por otra, la axiomática de las ciencias humanas de Gilbert Simondon. La pregunta que guía nuestro examen crítico es la siguiente: ¿de qué manera, en cada uno de esos proyectos, la noción de información funge como centro para una propuesta renovadora de las Humanidades? Nuestra hipótesis (...) sostiene que hay un común denominador en ambas propuestas, el cual puede formularse en términos foucaultianos del siguiente modo: la información es entendida allí como el a priori histórico actual. (shrink)

Politicians, pundits, and Pentagon officials are singing the praises of a kinder, gentler American counterinsurgency. Some claim that counterinsurgency is so sophisticated and effective that it is the “graduate level of war.” Private military contracting firms have jumped on the bandwagon, and many have begun employing anthropologists, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists to help meet the Department of Defense’s new demand. The $60 million Human Terrain System, an intelligence gathering program that embeds social scientists with combat brigades in Iraq and (...) Afghanistan, dramatically illustrates the approach. But when the military, transnational corporations, and the human sciences become obsessed with controlling the “human terrain”—the civilian populations of Iraq and Afghanistan—what are the consequences? In this timely pamphlet, Roberto González offers a searing critique of HTS, showing how the history of anthropology can be used to illuminate the problems of turning “culture” into a military tool. (shrink)

, from Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy.

Journal of International Political Theory, Ahead of Print. Since the end of the Cold War, a number of authors have affirmed the relevance of Carl Schmitt’s concept of Großraum for contemporary international politics. This article reviews those claims and argues that Großraum has little to offer in analytical terms to enhance our understanding of the international political situation in this early twenty-first century. Those authors who wish to revive Großraum for the sake of their theoretical work overlook vitally important components (...) of this concept. Furthermore, their claims fail to meet the criteria of Reinhart Koselleck’s structural iterability. (shrink)

Roberto Frega & Giovanni Maddelena – Can you recollect what the situation was concerning the study of pragmatism when you were in college? Richard J. Bernstein – I was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago from 1949 to 1951. At the time the “Hutchins College” was an unusual institution. The entire curriculum was fixed and it was organized around reading many of the great books of the Western tradition. From the time I arrived, I was reading Plato, Aristotle, (...) Galileo, Darwin, Herodotus... (shrink)

SILVA, Roberto Donizeti da. (Pós) Modernidade, Razão e Religião Cristã: o Pensamento de Zygmunt Bauman e José Maria Mardones. 2013. 98p. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciências da Religião) - Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Religião, Belo Horizonte.

Desde tiempos inmemoriales, filosofía y teoría política han deambulado por senderos paralelos: en unas ocasiones, prestándose armas mutuamente; en otras, sin embargo, arrinconándose y asfixiándose. A causa de la complejidad de los sucesos acaecidos en el pasado siglo XX, a aquella conflictiva pero siempre enriquecedora relación se unieron compañeras como la teología, la sociología o la antropología, que desearon aportar algo de luz en el opaco contexto de las guerras mundiales, el desarrollo del nazismo, la Revolución rusa, la emergencia de (...) los fascismos, etc. En este novedoso libro, Roberto Navarrete Alonso se ocupa de dos figuras coetáneas y del todo fundamentales: Carl Schmitt (1888-1985) y Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929). El autor se propone, a partir del estudio conjunto de estos pensadores, reflexionar sobre el Holocausto, sobre la Shoah o Catástrofe, abriendo de nuevo el insoslayable problema de la vertiente política del mal y su acaecimiento en la historia. El presente volumen se hace cargo de un nexo tan capital como inexplorado en el seno del pensamiento político-filosófico de comienzos del XX, analizando las fuentes, los cruces, los encuentros y desencuentros que tuvieron lugar entre Schmitt –referencia inexcusable de la reflexión jurídico-política del pasado siglo– y Rosenzweig –autor de la La estrella de la redención–. (shrink)

This chapter focuses on one of the common fallacies in Western philosophy called 'poisoning the well' (PTW). There are some forms of ad hominem varieties that are usually a response to an interlocutor's claims. Unlike them, PTW occurs when we illegitimately prime our audience with a pre‐emptive strike against, or with adverse information about, an argumentative opponent before the latter has had a chance to say anything in her own defense, or in defense of her point of view. This has (...) the insidious effect of creating a conceptual framework according to which the audience – and maybe even the interlocutor herself – will interpret her claims as 'fulfilling' and 'confirming' the presumptions buried inside this conceptual trap. Most of the time Karl Popper's criterion of falsifiability is still quite a useful tool and one that can help us gain a firmer understanding of PTW. (shrink)

La apatía con la que el hombre observa el accionar de los administradores públicos es una de las razones por las que muchos gobernantes consideran que acceden al poder para desarrollar proyectos personales y no para cumplir con el mandato del pueblo. En general, el argentino tiene la tendencia a "de..

This essay discusses political disorientation and what I define as a legibility crisis ushered in by the election of Donald Trump in 2016. After defining these concepts, it provides evidence for them and fleshes out how they were expressed in prophecies about Trump in white evangelical communities. A legibility crisis is the realization that some fundamental aspects of the symbolic domain (language, civic values, political practices, and institutions) are no longer binding or recognizable. There is a loss of touch with (...) what was once expected political conduct, but this loss gravitates toward something that is not fully graspable in its conceptual and emotional dimensions. In examining political disorientation, I refer to a three-dimensional condition encompassing the personal, the institutional, and the analytical. This disorientation challenges our expectations about institutional norms and forces us to realize that the respectability and legitimacy of those institutions have been hollowed out. This essay will also address the culture of prophecy in some evangelical groups and how prophetic utterances shape these groups’ understanding of the American Constitution and political reality. (shrink)

In the Sophist, Plato claims that the philosopher is always engaged through reasonings with the idea tou ontos (254a4–b1). I argue that, contrary to appearances and to what various commentators believe, this phrase does not refer to the Kind Being singled out in the Sophist as one of the so-called ‘greatest’ or ‘most important’ Kinds, but to the whole intelligible realm. The proposed reading better accounts for Plato’s exact wording at Sophist 254a4–b1 and preserves the consistency of Plato’s view on (...) the object of philosophical knowledge. I conclude with some broader considerations on the relationship between this passage, Platonic dialectic and Aristotle’s conception of a science of being qua being. (shrink)

Management has tended to be established as science (Episteme) by using scientific methodologies and techniques. Although the era of Grand Theories has passed some time ago in social sciences, management has been still indicating the tendencies to develop ‘Grand Theories’. However, economic developments associated with globalization and the ‘Lehman brothers’ big bang in financial sector has shaken some assumptions about the nature of management as science and also about the methodologies by which management and entrepreneurship can or could be studied. (...) Specific shift to the future developments through Aristoteles’s intellectual virtue Phronesis has been traced in the work of theorists, such as Flyvbjerg, and others. They indicate new approach to organization studies, called phronetic organization research. In this paper, our exploration of research methodologies builds on Phronesis. Based on results of empirical study of business models in small and medium size companies in Slovenia, and extensive literature review we inductively build theoretical foundations for phronetic studies in the field of management and entrepreneurship and introduce the concept, called ‘phronetic bricolage’. It is based on understanding of management as ‘practical activity’ of ‘wise managers’ and bricolage—the research design (or approach) that builds knowledge from pieces of research from different fields, with different methods and various sources of data. We argue that phronetic bricolage is approach in management studies that links wisdom with complexity and variety of methods and sources of data. (shrink)

El presente trabajo analiza el debate reciente sobre operatividad, técnica y cultura en la Teoría de los medios alemana, en el cual se enfrentan, por un lado, el enfoque tecnicista radical, y por el otro, el giro antropológico de los Estudios de las técnicas culturales. Asimismo, analiza la manera en que Simondon fue recientemente incorporado a la discusión y propone, en distancia crítica con ello, un nuevo modo de considerar los posibles aportes simondonianos al debate. Uno de los principales aportes (...) que el presente trabajo destaca es el siguiente: la noción simondoniana de operación técnica ofrece un enfoque no antropológico sobre la técnica y a la vez una consideración no tecno-céntrica de la dimensión técnica de la cultura. (shrink)