Much of experimental philosophy consists of surveying 'folk' intuitions about philosophically relevant issues. Are the results of these surveys evidence that the relevant folk intuitions cannot be predicted from the ‘armchair’? We found that a solid majority of philosophers could predict even results claimed to be 'surprising'. But, we argue, this does not mean that such experiments have no role at all in philosophy.

This article traces opposition to women's contraceptive rights moving from the role of St Augustine and Thomas Aquinas to the modern day role of the Vatican. Traditional views of women and sexuality have been challenged by modern feminism but Catholicism is still pursuing a global crusade against abortion, birth control, and redefinitions of the family that might include homosexual couples. This means opposing sex education curricula and opposition to state funding for family planning assistance. But the Catholic crusades against women's (...) reproductive rights have generated rebellion among some Catholics worldwide. This is led by Catholics for a Free Choice and the SeeChange campaign. (shrink)

Biobanking can promote valuable health research that may lead to significant societal benefits. However, collecting, storing and sharing human samples and data for research purposes present numerous ethical challenges. These challenges are exacerbated when the biobanking efforts aim to facilitate research on public health emergencies and include the sharing of samples and data between low/middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). In this article, we explore ethical challenges for COVID-19 biobanking, offering examples from two past infectious disease outbreaks in LMICs (...) where biobanking activities contributed to the perpetuation of global inequities. We focus on how the ethical imperative to promote the common good during public health emergencies can conflict with protecting the interests of biobank participants. We discuss how conducting biobank research under a waiver of informed consent during public health emergencies is ethically permissible, provided guidance is in place to prevent biopiracy and exploitation of vulnerable communities. We also highlight the need for biobank collaborations between LMICs and HICs to promote capacity building and benefit sharing. Finally, we offer guidance to promote the ethical oversight of biobanks and biobank research during the COVID-19 pandemic or other future public health emergencies. (shrink)

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (TS) is a childhood neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by the presence of motor and vocal tics. Patients with malignant TS experience severe disease sequelae; risking morbidity and mortality due to tics, self-harm, psychiatric comorbidities and suicide. By definition, those cases termed ‘malignant’ are refractory to all conventional psychiatric and pharmacological regimens. In these instances, deep brain stimulation (DBS) may be efficacious. Current 2015 guidelines recommend a 6-month period absent of suicidal ideation before DBS is offered to (...) patients with TS. We therefore wondered whether it may be ethically justifiable to offer DBS to a minor with malignant TS. We begin with a discussion of non-maleficence and beneficence. New evidence suggests that suicide risk in young patients with TS has been underestimated. In turn, DBS may represent an invaluable opportunity for children with malignant TS to secure future safety, independence and fulfilment. Postponing treatment is associated with additional risks. Ultimately, we assert this unique risk-benefit calculus justifies offering DBS to paediatric patients with malignant TS. A multidisciplinary team of clinicians must determine whether DBS is in the best interest of their individual patients. We conclude with a suggestion for future TS-DBS guidelines regarding suicidal ideation. The importance of informed consent and assent is underscored. (shrink)

Climate scientists and activists face the disturbing truths of climate change every day. How do they manage this psychologically? In-depth qualitative interviews with a small sample from these two groups suggest that scientists often take refuge in conventional understandings of scientific rationality in their attempts to defend themselves against anxieties generated by the politicisation of climate change. By contrast, activists seem more emotionally literate, building psychological support into their practice. We trace some of the dysfunctional effects of the social defences (...) adopted by the scientific community, and demonstrate how a different approach has led to the development of what might be called ‘sustainable activism’. (shrink)

In Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective, Marti Kheel explores the underlying worldview of "nature ethics," offering an alternative ecofeminist approach. Seeking to heal the divisions between the seemingly disparate movements and philosophies of feminism, animal advocacy, environmental ethics, and holistic health, Kheel proposes an ecofeminist philosophy that underscores the importance of empathy and care for individual beings as well as larger wholes.

Restorative practices are gaining traction as alternative approaches to student conflict and harm in schools, potentially surpassing disciplinary methods in effectiveness. In the current article, we contribute to the evolving understanding of restorative practices in schools by examining qualitative responses from educators regarding restorative interventions for online-mediated conflict and harm, including cyberbullying and sexting. Participants include pre-service educators, as well as junior and senior teachers with varying levels of familiarity with restorative practices. Our findings highlight how educators who have implemented (...) these practices largely hold positive perspectives of their effectiveness for resolving cyber conflicts and restoring a positive classroom environment. Educators emphasize the value of meaningful changes in student behaviour and acknowledge the potential of face-to-face mediation in mitigating online harm and promoting digital citizenship, though some educators raise questions about the appropriateness of restorative responses to serious incidents of online-mediated harm. This research offers fresh insights into the challenges and potential of restorative practices in schools, particularly in addressing cyber-based conflicts. We emphasize implementation challenges related to the distinct contexts in which schools operate and the influence of broader societal and systemic factors on the success of restorative practice initiatives. (shrink)

Olympiodorus' Commentary on Plato's Phaedo I.3-6 has been the linchpin of the reconstructions of the supposed Orphic doctrine of original sin. While Olympiodorus links the Titans' dismemberment of Dionysus and anthropogony, he does not include any element of inherited guilt, either in his narration of the myth or in his interpretation. Moreover, his telling of the myth, which makes the anthropogony the sequel to the dismemberment of Dionysus, is an innovation made for the purposes of his own argument. Rather than (...) preserving in fossilized form a sacred myth more than a millennium old, Olympiodorus concocts an innovative tale of his own. (shrink)

Since USA constitutional precedent established in 1976, adolescents have increasingly been afforded the right to access contraception without first obtaining parental consent or authorisation. There is general agreement this ethically permissible. However, long-acting reversible contraception methods have only recently been prescribed to the adolescent population. They are currently the most effective forms of contraception available and have high compliance and satisfaction rates. Yet unlike other contraceptives, LARCs are associated with special procedural risks because they must be inserted and removed by (...) trained healthcare providers. It is unclear whether the unique invasive nature of LARC changes the traditional ethical calculus of permitting adolescent decision-making in the realm of contraception. To answer this question, we review the risk–benefit profile of adolescent LARC use. Traditional justifications for permitting adolescent contraception decision-making authority are then considered in the context of LARCs. Finally, analogous reasoning is used to evaluate potential differences between permitting adolescents to consent for LARC procedures versus for emergency and pregnancy termination procedures. Ultimately, we argue that the invasive nature of LARCs does not override adolescents’ unique and compelling need for safe and effective forms of contraception. In fact, LARCs may oftentimes be in the best interest of adolescent patients who wish to prevent unintended pregnancy. We advocate for the specific enumeration of adolescents’ ability to consent to both LARC insertion and removal procedures within state policies. Given the provider-dependent nature of LARCs and the stigma regarding adolescent sexuality, special political and procedural safeguards to protect adolescent autonomy are warranted. (shrink)

With its wealth of readily and often publicly available information about Web users’ lives, the Web has created new opportunities for conducting online research. Although digital data are easily accessible, ethical guidelines are inconsistent about how researchers should use them. Some academics claim that traditional ethical principles are sufficient and applicable to online research. However, the Web poses new challenges that compel researchers to reconsider concerns of consent, privacy and anonymity. Based on doctoral research into the investigation of online medicine (...) purchasing, this article presents a case study involving online forums, and reviews the existing ethical guidance surrounding the Web. The suggestion is that new ethical guidelines, particularly in relation to informed consent and participants’ own perceptions of what is public or private, are needed owing to the unique challenges of online research. (shrink)

Background: Clinical trials involving children previously considered unethical are now considered a necessity because of the inherent physiological differences between children and adults. An integral part of research ethics is the informed consent, which for children is obtained by proxy from a consenting parent or guardian. The informed consent process is governed by international ethical codes that are interpreted in accordance with local laws and procedures raising the importance of contextualizing their implementation.DiscussionThe Zimbabwean parental informed consent document for children participating (...) in clinical research is modeled along western laws of ethics and requires that the parent or legally authorized representative provide consent on behalf of a minor. This article highlights the experiences and lessons learnt by Zimbabwean researchers in interpreting and obtaining informed consent for orphaned children participating in a collaborative HIV clinical trial involving the Medical Research Council, United Kingdom and four centers, three of which are in Uganda. Researchers were faced with a situation where caregivers of orphaned children were not permitted to provide informed consent for trial participation if the Zimbabwean courts had not legally appointed them. The situation contrasted with general clinical practice where legal papers where not required for providing consent for surgical procedures for example.SummaryExperiences gained from this clinical trial revealed that while there may be internationally established guidelines governing the process of obtaining informed consent for children participating in research, there may be need to be cognizant of the culture within which the research is taking place. This may call for the development of an ethico-legal framework that governs research-involving children in Zimbabwe that would facilitate their participation in clinical research, while ensuring that they are protected from exploitation. The Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe has since started developing that framework in a process that is expected to involve critical stakeholders namely the community including children, ethicists, the legal fraternity and researchers. (shrink)

El propósito del siguiente trabajo es examinar la lectura que hace Heidegger de Husserl a la luz del tema de la adaequatio, rótulo bajo el cual se justificala asimilación del pensamiento de Husserl a la historia de la "metafísica dela presencia". siguiendo las huellas de Platón a Hegel. El examen se refierea algunos textos en los que se insinúa esta gigantomaquía contemporánea que -aunque mal comprendida por muchos- ha influido en la recepción dela obra de Husserl en el siglo XX. (...) Sobre la base de unos textos de 1922/23,la A. señala la anticipación husserliana del abandono del ideal de adecuación en la fenomenología trascendental. Aunque Heidegger jamás aceptará esta anticipación, sí le reconocerá -en su último seminario de 1973- elhaberle brindado la ocasión de concebir la diferencía ontológica y la concepción ec-stática del Dasein. (shrink)

Desde su origen, la fenomenología de Husserl oscila entre una valoración positiva del cálculo técnico, para compensar la limitada capacidad de los seres humanos, y una denuncia de la ceguera que su desarrollo extraordinario ha ocasionado respecto de la verdadera naturaleza del pensamiento científico y filosófico, en su sentido de λ. Asimismo, respecto de la intuición, la fenomenología oscila entre una valoración positiva del carácter fundacional y auténtico de las representaciones intuitivas básicas y la observación de su finitud radical. En (...) esta ocasión exploramos algunos rasgos de estas oscilaciones. (shrink)

La siguiente reflexión interroga en qué sentido puede todavía hacerse valer hoy la distinción entre ciencias naturales y ciencias de la cultura reconsiderando dicha distinción en el marco de la fenomenología husserliana. Se indaga si ella refleja un “hiato en la cultura” irreversible e infranqueable —heredado del dualismo cartesiano, la crítica kantiana, el positivismo naturalista y la reivindicación neokantiana de las ciencias del espíritu— o si más bien no puede concebirse un suelo común como fuente última de su sentido y (...) validez. Se constata que sólo podrá descubrirse dicho suelo común trascendiendo toda toma de posición ontológica, e interrogando las fuentes trascendentales de la experiencia humana. Dicha interrogación revelará, a su vez, consecuencias inesperadas respecto del carácter finito y limitado de toda empresa humana.The following contribution reflects upon the sense that the distinction between natural and cultural sciences may still have nowadays, reconsidering it within the framework of Husserl’s phenomenology. It questions whether it reflects an irreversible and insurmountable “hiatus in culture” —inherited from Cartesian dualism, Kantian critique, Comte’s naturalism and the neo-Kantian vindication of the cultural sciences— or whether a common soil as their ultimate source of sense and validity may not be conceived instead. It purports that, the said common ground, may only be discovered by transcending every ontological statement, and by questioning the transcendental sources of human experience. This interrogation itself reveals unexpected consequences regarding the finite and limited character of every human endeavour. (shrink)

Arete is ten years old. It is, to be sure, a modest anniversary, which nonetheless gives us the opportunity for an academic celebration. It iswith this intention that we decided, almost two years ago, to prepare a special volume dedicated to explaining, from different points of view, the notion that gives our journal its name: the notion of arete. We invited our usual collaborators and friends, and other philosophers who have dedicated part of their work to studying the origins or (...) repercussions of that notion in the history of philosophy. (shrink)

Entre los múltiples temas de la fenomenología, el de la intencionalidad es un concepto clave que permite tentar una interpretación del significado del pensamiento husserliano respecto de su difícil relación con la modernidad y de su puesto en la filosofía contemporánea. La presente contribución sigue las huellas de ese concepto en la obra temprana de Edmund Husserl. Paralelamente, aborda la posición de Husserl respecto de la equívoca noción de "conciencia" o "subjetividad" la que, siguiendo ciertas concepciones de la modernidad, se (...) venía entendiendo hacia fines del siglo XlX como "inmanencia" o "presencia a sí". Algunos textos tempranos de Husserl son puestos en relación con la primera edición de su "Quinta Investigación Lógica" (1901), por ser éste el "lugar" en el que se halla expuesta, de modo quizás privilegiado, la tensión husserliana entre la "tradición" y la "cosa misma". (shrink)

The intentionality is a key concept in Husserl’s phenomenology, by means of which comes out to the light the proverbial tension between the modern tradition and the ‘thing self’. Conscious of the risk of reexaminating a topic that it has already been object of innumerables interpretations, the au..

"œLa irrupción de la Fenomenologí­a: Génesis de las Investigaciones Lógicas de Husserl" La intencionalidad es un concepto clave en la Fenomenologí­a de Husserl, por medio del cual sale a la luz la tensión proverbial entre la tradición moderna y la "cosa en sí­". Conciente del riesgo de reexaminar un tema que ya ha sido objeto de inumerables interpretaciones, la autora lo usa como hilo conductor para reconstruir la génesis de la obra capital de Husserl, así­ como de la supuesta "irrup- (...) ción" de la Fenomenologia. '"The irruption of the Phenotnenology: Génesis ofthe Husserl's Logical Investigations" The intentionality is a key concept in the Husserl"™s Phenomenology, by means of which comes out to the light the proverbial tension between the modern tradition and the "thing self". Conscious of the risk of reexamining a topic that it has already been object of inumerables interpretations, the author uses it like conductive thread to reconstruct the genesis of the capital work of Husserl, as well as the supposed "irruption" of the Phenomenology. (shrink)

Este texto tem como finalidade abordar questões voltadas à construção da identidade étnico/racial da criança negra, levantando discussões sobre os contos de fadas, notadamente Branca de Neve e Bela Adormecida, e sua influência no processo de construção identitária, enquanto oferta de um único tipo de obra literária para as crianças. Partindo desse pressuposto, traçamos o seguinte objetivo: analisar a contribuição dos contos de fadas para a formação da identidade étnico/racial da criança negra, investigando dois contos de fadas mais populares e (...) que fortalecem uma concepção de estética que contribui para o fortalecimento do racismo e disseminação de práticas racista na sociedade e consequente baixa autoestima da criança negra. Sendo assim, a metodologia foi análise documental, com revisão das obras: Branca De Neve e a Bela Adormecida. Esta pesquisa visa fornecer instrumentos para aumentar as formas de discussões e debates sobre o assunto, que sirva como um suporte para professores desenvolverem novas concepções sobre ampliação das escolhas literárias e roda de conversas no meio de estudantes para que só aumentem as possibilidades de aprendizagem. Foram trazidos ao debate teóricos como: Gomes, Brandão, Freire Coelho, Munanga, dentre outros, a fim de embasar esta pesquisa. (shrink)

This profound resource extends the concept of education as a human right to propose lasting solutions to educational disparities worldwide. Its multiperspective analysis probes the roots of educational inequities in recent and longstanding economic divisions, cultural domination, and political injustice, framing equal access to meaningful learning as a core aspect of a humane society. Characteristics of Educational Leaders without Borders (ELWB) are defined, and the challenges of their mission are examined in global context, from education of girls in the Middle (...) East to internet access in Haiti to the complex situation of U.S. minority students. In addition, an overview of historical precedents for ELWB in the work of Dewey and others helps to illuminate pressing issues that must be addressed by current and future humanistic leaders to improve educational access for the world's children. Among the topics covered: Education without nationalism: locating leadership when borders no longer hold. Toward a metanoia of global educational leadership. Teaching, technology, and transformation. The unique challenges of education in emerging West African countries. The economics of globalization in higher education. The transnational context of schooling. Educators, education researchers, and policymakers in education will welcome the clear-minded realism and ethically robust agenda found in Educational Leaders without Borders. (shrink)

Drawing from a range of historical thinkers to illuminate the subject, this studyprovides readers with a framework of reference to get their bearings and begin to develop a personal response to the task of "doing the right thing." Its topics delve into the wider context of the practical difficulties people face in deciding what to do for the best, analyzing the way this morning's dilemma fits among the big moral issues. Its subjects are divided into three parts, addressing key questions (...) facing society such as What is fairness? Should I always tell the truth? What are the moralities of war? What are my ecological responsibilities to the planet? and Is the good bound to win in the end? Accessible and lively, this is a compelling look at how people can live well and make wise decisions. (shrink)

We used Discursive Psychology to study the claims and arguments which occur when ‘the child’s best interests’ is produced as a resource in family mediation settings. Analysis draws on data from three pairs of separated or separating parents attempting to resolve child contact or residency disputes through mediation. Our analysis focuses on the tendency of claims to the abstract notion of the child’s best interests to exacerbate conflict, especially as parents drew on conflicting research in this area. Changing expectations of (...) fathering could be observed in the men’s argumentative positioning, and this was taken up in different ways by ex-partners and by mediators. Participants aligned themselves with mediators’ statements by picking up details of mediators’ language, hampering mediators’ attempted neutrality. The problematic nature of acknowledging the intensity of emotions in this process was also highlighted. (shrink)

This article traces the development of the idea of God from the ancient Near East thought into Patristic Christianity with its fusion with Greek philosophy. The article details five patterns that shape the way in which God language in Christianity influences social and political systems: androcentrism or male domination over women; anthropocentrism or human domination over nature; ethnocentrism or the domination of a `chosen' people over other people; militarism, and asceticism or the dualism and hierarchy of mind over body. It (...) also suggests how these patterns of domination can be dismantled and more mutual relations between God, humans and nature developed. (shrink)

Aquí propongo plantear algunos problemas de la diferencia y la otredad desde la teoría de la intersubjetividad de Husserl. No lo haré sin embargo desde las constituciones "reflexivo-estática" del otro y la "mundano-genética" de la empatía, las más desarrolladas en la conocida Quinta Meditación, que es criticada por supuestamente ser incapaz de "superar el solipsismo metodológico" de su punto de partida. Abordaré más bien la concepción husserliana de la fundación de la intersubjetividad social y cultural, esto es, los problemas planteados (...) en los niveles superiores de la comunidad intermonádica. Previamente, revisaré el concepto husserliano de "mónada" como presupuesto de la teoría de la intersubjetividad o "monadología" y describiré someramente la articulación trascendental de los tres estratos intersubjetivos: el pre-reflexivo o impulsivo, el reflexivo y/o mundano, y el social. El planteamiento husserliano de la intersubjetividad social, activa y superior, lo veré en correlación con el trasfondo pasivo a partir del cual ella se constituye: la intencionalidad intersubjetiva primaria -pre-reflexiva, asociativa, impulsiva, afectiva y carnal.iii Una vez cubierta esa plantilla básica, y apoyándome en un texto póstumo titulado "Mundo familiar, mundo extraño, y ‘el' mundo", tocaré la solución propiamente husserliana a los dilemas de la dialéctica de la "unidad" versus la "multiplicidad" y de la "identidad" versus la "diferencia" bajo las categorías en tensión de lo "universal-objetivo" versus lo "particular-relativo", y lo "propio" versus lo "ajeno" o lo "mismo" versus lo "otro". [Fragmento]. (shrink)

El papel de filosofía y humanidades en forjar un “ideal de humanidad” se refiere no sólo a las difíciles relaciones que éstas tradicionalmente han tenido con los poderes mundanos, sino, sobre todo, a su papel protagónico como guías de un ideal de humanidad y valores espirituales en tiempos de crisis. Kant defendió el papel de los ideales racionales de la “facultad de filosofía” a fines del s. XVIII, ante la teología, el derecho y la medicina. La reflexión de Fichte cuando (...) la nación alemana luchaba por su existencia luego de su derrota por los ejércitos napoleónicos a inicios del s. XIX, da un impulso decisivo a los valores del idealismo alemán. Un siglo después, ante la misma nación alemana, nuevamente derrotada en la primera guerra mundial y sin hallar respuestas a su aflicción en las ciencias exactas ni en su cultura determinada por la técnica, Husserl ve en “el ideal de Humanidad de Fichte” la respuesta a aquello que puede darle su ultima satisfacción: la producción teleológica de un mundo humano, en el que pueda realizarse un orden mundial moral, único fin, fundamento y valor absoluto de la humanidad. Hoy nos hallamos en otro momento de peligro: no sólo el del positivismo naturalista desplazando desde el s. XIX a la formación humanística. El mayor de los peligros es ahora la alianza de ese naturalismo con el mundo globalizado del presente, bajo el imperio de la estan-darización burocrática y corporativa al servicio de la producción desenfrenada de dinero.The role of philosophy and the human sciences in forging an “ideal of humanity” concerns not only the tensions that they traditionally have had with worldly powers. It mostly deals with their primal role as guides of an ideal of humanity and spiritual values in times of crisis. Kant defended the central role of the “Faculty of Philosophy”’s rational ideals by the end of the 18th century, as opposed to Theology, Jurisprudence and Medicine. Fichte’s reflection when the German nation was fighting for its survival after its defeat by the Napoleonic armies at the beginning of the 19th century, gives a decisive impulse to the values brandished by German Idealism. A century later, facing the same German nation newly defeated at World War I, and without any answers to its affliction either in exact sciences nor in its culture determined by technology, Husserl finds in “Fichte’s Ideal of Humanity“ the answer to that which can give it its lasting satisfaction: the teleological production of a human world, in which a world moral order may arise, as humanity’s sole goal, foundation, and absolute value. Today we find ourselves in another moment of danger: not only that of a naturalistic positivism displacing a humanistic education. The greatest of all dangers is currently the alliance of this naturalism with the Golden calf installed in the globalized world of today, under the empire of the bureaucratic and corporative standardization at the service of the frenzied production of money. (shrink)

Frecuentemente se ha señalado a la fenomenología de Husserl como una "filosofía de la fundación última y radical auto-responsabilidad." Aquí, sin embargo, examinaremos qué sentido puede tener hablar de "fundación última" y "auto-responsabilidad radical" en filosofía. La "idea de la filosofía" que propone Husserl como una "ciencia universal y rigurosa" de "fundación última" ha sido malinterpretada por sus críticos contemporáneos, que no han prestado atención a su aclaración que esta idea "ha de ser realizada sólo mediante valideces relativas y temporales (...) en un proceso histórico infinito", ni tampoco al hecho que él ya ha replanteado la noción moderna de razón. Que la filosofía ha de proveer una fundación última a toda efectuación de la razón, así como su propia justificación sólo significa que es últimamente responsable de todo sentido y validez en general, así como de sí misma. Empero, el ego consciente activo, con sus efectuaciones racionales –cognitivas, volitivas y emotivas– como el "fundamento absoluto de todas mis validaciones", es precedido por un estrato más profundo, pre-consciente, irracional y pasivo de tendencias emotivas y desiderativas, impulsos e instintos hacia la conciencia y la racionalidad. Así, todo "evidenciar" y Geltungsfundierung se ve finalmente absorbido en una Genesisfundierung. En última instancia, ninguna "evidencia" racional puede ser "adecuada", sino que es esencialmente abierta e inadecuada. La tan criticada "conciencia absoluta" de Husserl está en efecto enraizada en un "absoluto más definitivo y verdadero", a saber, la identidad y diferencia del presente viviente estático-fluyente que pertenece a un ser finito, temporal, perspectivista, encarnado e intersubjetivo. La defensa de la razón y del "discurso fundacional" es para Husserl una cuestión de la "supervivencia de la humanidad" y su preservación de la barbarie. Pero no es una "adquisición permanente" sino la responsabilidad de una "tarea infinita". Así, la filosofía es una "ciencia todo-abarcadora fundada en un fundamento absoluto [...] aunque por cierto bajo la forma de un programa sin fin".Husserl’s phenomenology has been frequently referred to as a “philosophy of ultimate foundation and radical self-responsibility.” Yet here we will examine philosophy’s notion of “ultimate foundation” as “radical self-responsibility.” The “idea of philosophy” that Husserl proposes as a “universal and rigorous science” of “ultimate foundation” has been grossly misinterpreted by his contemporary critics, who have not paid heed to his clarifica-tion that this idea is “to be realized only by way of relative and temporary validities and in an infinite historical process,” nor to the fact that he has already recasted the traditional Modern notion of reason. That philosophy is called upon to provide an ultimate foundation to every accomplishment of reason, as well as its own justification, means that it is ultimately responsible for every sense and validity in general, and for itself. However, the active conscious ego, with its rational –cognitive, volitional and emotional– accomplishments, as the “absolute foundation of all my validations,” is preceded by a deeper, pre-conscious, irrational, and passive stratum of emotional and desiderative tendencies, impulses, instincts and strivings towards consciousness and rationality. Thus every “evidencing” and Geltungsfundierung is finally absorbed within Genesisfundierung. Ultimately no rational “evidence” can ever be “adequate,” but is essentially openended, and inadequate. Husserl’s much criticized “absolute consciousness” is in fact an “absolute” rooted in a “more definite and true absolute,” namely, the identity and difference of the static-fluent living present belonging to a finite, temporal, perspectivist, incarnate and intersubjective being. The defense of reason and of “foundational discourse” is for Husserl a question of “humanity’s survival” and its preservation from barbarity. Yet it is not a “permanent acquisition” but the responsibility of an “infinite task.” Thus philosophy is an “all-embracing science grounded on an absolute foundation [...] though of course in the form of an endless program.". (shrink)

La superación husserliana de las nociones representacionalistas e inmanentistas modernas de conciencia y conocimiento está atada al desarrollo temprano de su concepto sui generis de intencionalidad. Este desarrollo es fruto, a su vez, tanto de investigaciones lógicas como psicológicas, estas últimas dando paso a distintas formas de intuición: las formas fundadas –eidética y categorial– y las fundantes sensibles, todas las cuales presuponen el tipo básico y fundante –la percepción misma. Si bien el concepto de intencionalidad husserliano está determinado por el (...) descubrimiento de la “idealidad” en investigaciones lógico-semánticas, no menos relevante es el papel de las investigaciones psicológicas de Husserl y el desarrollo temprano de su noción no representacionalista de percepción. Este texto intentará echar luces sobre ciertos rasgos de la temprana fenomenología de la percepción de Husserl y su superación del representacionalismo. (shrink)

This article presents a systematic examination of matrilineal succession in Greek myth. It uses MANTO, a digital database of Greek myth, to identify kings who succeed their fathers-in-law, maternal grandfathers, step-fathers, or wives’ previous husbands. Analysis of the fifty-four instances identified shows that the prominence of the ‘succession via widow’ motif in archaic epic is not typical of the broader tradition. Rather, civic mythmaking more commonly relies on succession by sons-in-law and maternal grandsons to craft connections between cities and lineages, (...) and to claim panhellenic prestige. We show that matrilineal successors are not treated as necessarily illegitimate or inferior within the overwhelmingly patrilineal conventions of Greek myth. In fact, matrilineal calculations afford certain advantages, like the ability to integrate heroes from elsewhere, or to champion local kings with divine fathers. Matrilineal succession reveals the gendered dynamics inherent to Greek myth; we argue that, although in these instances regnal power is transferred through female relatives, the heroines involved are typically treated simply as nodes for this power and their roles in these stories do not necessarily correlate to a greater visibility or autonomy. (shrink)

This paper argues that the New Labour government's school effectiveness/target-setting strategy for reducing school exclusions is a flawed one. It deflects blame on to individual schools for problems which have as their source more deep-seated changes both in educational policy and in the wider society. A more positive way forward is to learn lessons from the recent research literature addressing the causes of the increase in school exclusions.

Concerns have been expressed about adult behaviour at children’s sporting events in New Zealand. As a consequence, covert observation was identified as the optimal research method to be used in studies designed to record the nature and prevalence of adult sideline behaviour at children’s team sporting events. This paper explores whether the concerns raised by the ethics committee about the use of this controversial method, particularly in relation to the lack of informed consent, the use of deception, and researcher safety, (...) were effectively managed. This is achieved by reflecting on the conduct and findings of the research and by drawing on the perspectives of research assistants who carried out the covert observation. The authors argue that in the context of these studies, the ends have justified the means and with careful attention to the design of the study the complex ethical tensions arising from the use of this method can be managed. (shrink)