It is undeniable that human agents sometimes act badly, and it seems that they sometimes pursue bad things simply because they are bad. This latter phenomenon has often been taken to provide counterexamples to views according to which we always act under the guise of the good. This paper identifies several distinct arguments in favour of the possibility that one can act under the guise of the bad. GG seems to face more serious difficulties when trying to answer three different, (...) but related, arguments for the possibility of acting under the guise of the bad. The main strategies available to answer these objections end up either undermining the motivation for GG or failing to do full justice to the nature of perverse motivation. However, these difficulties turn out to be generated by focusing on a particular version of GG, what I call the “content version”. But we have independent reasons to prefer a different version of GG; namely, the “attitude version”. The attitude version allows for a much richer understanding of the possibility of acting on what we conceive to be bad. Drawing on an analogy with theoretical akrasia and theoretical perversion, I try to show how the attitude version can provide a compelling account of perverse actions. (shrink)

Preface -/- 1. 'Anima' and 'res cogitans'. The Cartesian idea of nature and mind as a residual concept. The first chapter discusses the genesis of the concept of mind in Cartesian Philosophy; the claim is advanced that 'res cogitans' is a residual concept, defined on the basis of a previous definition of matter as 'res extensa'. As a consequence, a contradictory ontology of the mind is Descartes's poisoned bequest to the following tradition of 'scientific' psychology. -/- 2. The Mathematical method (...) in the theory of the mind and the passions. The second chapter discusses the first ambitious attempt in this direction, namely Spinoza's theory of the mind and the passions in Ethics II and III; the topics treated are Spinoza's program of a mathematical science of the mind and his transformation of the genre 'treatise of the passions' into a would-be mathematical science of the motions of the soul. -/- 3. The definition of affections and the impossibility of reducing inadequate to adequate ideas. The third chapter discusses a tension in Spinoza project of a theory of the passions, namely a need to reduce concepts to pure mathematical definitions and the opposite need to keep inadequate imaginative definitions of the phenomena under scrutiny, namely the passions, in order to avoid a radical reduction of the subject-matter to the only truly existing reality (the world order in itself) that would leave the theory without any subject-matter at all. -/- 4. 'Conatus', 'potentia', 'vis'. Concepts of force in the theory of passions and the impossibility of eliminating occult qualities. The fourth chapter discusses the troubles arising in the original project deriving from difficulties in the treatment of dynamic concepts, such as the notion of conatus, which were an unavoidable consequence of Cartesian assumptions. -/- 5. Overview and discussion. Chapter five tries to draw a general discussion, focusing on the tension between the Cartesian assumptions and the actual practice in the new post-Galilean sciences, including attempts at giving birth to psychology or science of man. -/- Appendices I. The mind-body problem in Spinoza. II. Concepts of force in Newton and Spinoza. III. Materialist readings of Newton and Spinoza. IV. On the opposition of materialism and spiritualism and Geisteswissenschaften and natural science. V. Conatus, the idea of liberation and social theory in Spinoza. (shrink)

This philosophical introduction to and discussion of social and political studies of science argues that scientific knowledge is socially constructed.

Recently, Piccinini and Craver have stated three theses concerning the relations between functional analysis and mechanistic explanation in cognitive sciences: No Distinctness: functional analysis and mechanistic explanation are explanations of the same kind; Integration: functional analysis is a kind of mechanistic explanation; and Subordination: functional analyses are unsatisfactory sketches of mechanisms. In this paper, I argue, first, that functional analysis and mechanistic explanations are sub-kinds of explanation by scientific (idealized) models. From that point of view, we must take into account (...) the tradeoff between the representational/explanatory goals of generality and precision that govern the practice of model-building. In some modeling scenarios, it is rational to maximize explanatory generality at the expense of mechanistic precision. This tradeoff allows me to put forward a problem for the mechanist position. If mechanistic modeling endorses generality as a valuable goal, then Subordination should be rejected. If mechanists reject generality as a goal, then Integration is false. I suggest that mechanists should accept that functional analysis can offer acceptable explanations of cognitive phenomena. (shrink)

This article contains the Spanish translation of the entry “Staat”, of Hermann Heller, with an introduction to his political and juridical thought.

This paper focuses on the framework for the compositional relations of properties in the sciences, or "realization relations", offered by Ken Aizawa and Carl Gillett (A&G) in a series of papers, and in particular on the analysis of "multiple realizations" they build upon it. I argue that A&G's analysis of multiple realization requires an account of levels and I try to show, then, that the A&G framework is not successful under any of the extant accounts of levels. There is consequently (...) a real concern tha thte A&G framework for realization may not be viable. (shrink)

We introduce a variety of algebras in the language of Boolean algebras with an extra implication, namely the variety of pseudo-subordination algebras, which is closely related to subordination algebras. We believe it provides a minimal general algebraic framework where to place and systematise the research on classes of algebras related to several kinds of subordination algebras. We also consider the subvariety of pseudo-contact algebras, related to contact algebras, and the subvariety of the strict implication algebras introduced in Bezhanishvili et al. (...) [(2019). A strict implication calculus for compact Hausdorff spaces. Annals of Pure and Applied Logic, 170, 102714]. The variety of pseudo-subordination algebras is term equivalent to the variety of Boolean algebras with a binary modal operator. We exploit this fact in our study. In particular, to obtain a topological duality from which we derive the known topological dualities for subordination algebras and contact algebras. (shrink)

Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the primary architect of the neuron doctrine and the law of dynamic polarization, is considered to be the founder of modern neuroscience. At the same time, many philosophers, historians, and neuroscientists agree that modern neuroscience embodies a mechanistic perspective on the explanation of the nervous system. In this paper, I review the extant mechanistic interpretation of Cajal’s contribution to modern neuroscience. Then, I argue that the extant mechanistic interpretation fails to capture the explanatory import of Cajal’s (...) law of dynamic polarization. My claim is that the definitive formulation of Cajal’s law of dynamic polarization, despite its mechanistic inaccuracies, embodies a non-mechanistic pattern of reasoning (i.e., design explanation) that is an integral component of modern neuroscience. (shrink)

La filosofía de la ciencia se desarrolló durante la primera mitad del siglo xx bajo el supuesto de que la ciencia podía caracterizarse por la estructura lógica tanto del conocimiento articulado en las teorías más exitosas como de sus explicaciones. En la segunda mitad del siglo xx se cuestiona fuertemente esa idea, pero se sigue asumiendo que la filosofía de la ciencia debe hacerse siguiendo los cánones de una epistemología fundamentalista que considera que el avance de la ciencia pasa por (...) una ontología cada vez mas austera guiada por la idea de "mientras menos mejor". Desde esta perspectiva fundamentalista, el que las diferentes ciencias hablen de diferentes tipos de cosas es un obstáculo al entendimiento, producto de la imperfección del conocimiento actual. Este ideal nos invita a pensar que la epistemología debe hacerse reflexionando sobre el conocimiento articulado en nuestras teorías más austeras y nos compromete con propuestas reduccionistas problemáticas que no permiten explicar la diversidad de recursos epistémicos que de hecho utilizan los científicos. En este libro promovemos una epistemología que no sigue el lema de "mientras menos mejor", sino el de "organizar nuestros recursos epistémicos de manera que se genere entendimiento". Así, la misma estructura de las explicaciones y las prácticas (que incluye métodos y normas respecto de lo que se considera plausible y valioso) es lo que nos da la pauta para responder a la pregunta de qué es lo que hay. Esta estrategia epistémica nos obliga a hacer una filosofía de la ciencia muy cercana a la ciencia, reconociendo la pluralidad de sus métodos, objetivos y prácticas, sin reducir la filosofía de la ciencia a la sociología o a cualquier otra ciencia en particular. (shrink)

These two volumes consist of a critical edition and English translation of the two earliest known Armenian sets of scholia on the Heavenly Hierarchy of Dionysius the Areopagite. Composed in the monastic schools of Erznka in the late thirteenth century, these scholia provide significant insight into how the Heavenly Hierarchy in particular, and Armenian translations of Greek texts in general, were understood by Armenian scholars in the Middle Ages. This editio princeps of the scholia represents a rare critical edition of (...) a native Armenian composition from the medieval period. In addition to the text and translation, these volumes include a textual commentary as well as a critical collation and English translation of a number of scholia from the Armenian version of the Greek scholia on the Heavenly Hierarchy. (shrink)

El debate académico sobre el significado político de los derechos humanos ha puesto el acento en su dimensión negativa o privada, olvidando la dimensión positiva o pública que despliegan en el proceso de integración de una sociedad política determinada, como la democrática. El artículo rescata la dimensión política de los derechos humanos como un elemento constitutivo clave de la sociedad democrática. La hipótesis de que parte es que los derechos humanos otorgan carta de naturalidad a una lucha real a favor (...) de la libertad política y contra la opresión que encuentra su materialización histórica en la sociedad democrática y su negación en la sociedad totalitaria. Para desarrollar el argumento, recurre a la teoría de Claude Lefort, quien asocia el discurso de los derechos humanos con una concepción general de la sociedad que se realiza históricamente en la sociedad democrática. (shrink)

I argue that (i) even though Adam Smith’s four stages theory has been criticized with good reasons as both vitiated by undue generalization from modern Europe to the first stage and made bottom-heavy by assumptions of modern episteme, yet, in his writings an alternative view emerges where the savage is not just crushed under the weight of want and isolation but is endowed with imagination and sympathy; (ii) his picture of the fourth stage is, far from a triumphal apology of (...) Capitalism, a tragic diagnosis of an inner tension between ambition and greed and their unintended beneficial effects; (iii) the tensions in the picture are not just a report of tensions out there, but also depend on Smith’s pre-comprehension of the phenomena he tries to account for; (iv) and yet, the tragic character of this picture is to be credited to his integrity; I summarize peculiarities of Smith’s peculiar outlook, post-empiricism, as well as its potentialities (sect 2). I then reconstruct his view of development of language and science, suggesting that his theory of association of ideas and imagination provides a consistent account of both science and lore, yielding a comparatively less ethnocentric evaluation of the savage mind (sect. 3). I reconstruct his virtually twofold reconstruction of subsistence in the rude and early state, arguing that he tends to ascribe inability to evolve to want and isolation and describes his own view of evolution as a necessary path but also that in several passages imagination and sympathy do play a role also for the savage (sect. 4). I compare Smith’s view of the first stage with his diagnosis of commercial society arguing that his reconstruction is burdened by eighteenth-century ideology as well as by modern episteme and I conclude with an ambivalent appraisal of Smith’s comparison between the polished man and the savage. -/- . (shrink)

This article explores the relationships between crime, collective responses to it, and the social production of so-called great criminals. It argues that crime, especially sexual and violent crime, produces significant imbalances in individuals habitually subject to instrumental actions, identitarian thinking and positive law. These imbalances are emotional as well as cognitive and, under certain conditions of communication, can generate states of multitude, that is, collective states linked to an intense affectivity and to the prevalence of mythic or symbolic thinking. These (...) states reach their limits and become condensed in the mytho-historical figure of the great criminal. In this sense, great criminals are a function of such multitudinous states: points of imputation that concentrate and catalyze the affective imagination unleashed by collective effervescence. (shrink)

En este trabajo busco aproximarme a una historia in-finita de la naturaleza en el pensamiento-en-imagen de Paul Klee a partir de una interpretación de los parágrafos 76 y 77 de la Crítica de la facultad de Juzgar de Kant. Para su lectura, propongo considerar como contrapunto uno de los principios del entendimiento puro que Kant considera en la Crítica de la razón pura, este es: el principio de las anticipaciones de la percepción. A saber, el principio que explica la condición (...) de toda sensación. Para preguntar por una historia in-finita de la naturaleza es fundamental atender a la diferencia implicada en la relación entre naturaleza y arte que advierte Klee. Dicha diferencia conlleva considerar el origen de esta historia como fractura por la atención puesta hacia lo que la diferencia, lo cual exige pensar en lo que denomino un cambiode percepción. (shrink)

‘Se trata de pensar el sexo sin la ley y, a la vez, el poder sin el rey’.Michel Foucault.Ha sido decisión de los editores franceses anexar a las clases que conforman el texto de Los anormalesel resumen que el propio Foucault hiciera para el Collège de France; en dicho resumen Foucault vuelve sobre lo que constituye su curso lectivo 1974-1975. Sin que haya mediado la inicitiva del autor se trata de una práctica perfectamente institucional el resumen en tanto objetivación escriturística (...) va a .. (shrink)

In recent decades, philosophers of science have devoted considerable efforts to understand what models represent. One popular position is that models represent fictional situations. Another position states that, though models often involve fictional elements, they represent real objects or scenarios. Though these two positions may seem to be incompatible, I believe it is possible to reconcile them. Using a threefold distinction between different signs proposed by Peirce, I develop an argument based on a proposal recently made by Kralemann and Lattman (...) (in Synthese 190:3397–3420, 2013) that shows that the two aforementioned positions can be reconciled by distinguishing different ways in which a model representation can be used. In particular, on the basis of Peirce’s distinction between icons, indices and symbols, I argue that models can sometimes function as icons, sometimes as indexes and sometimes as symbols, depending on the context in which they are considered and the use that they are developed for because they all have iconic, indexical and symbolic features. In addition, I show that conceiving models as signs enables us to develop an account of scientific representation that meets the main desiderata that Shech (in Synthese 192:3463–3485, 2015) presents. (shrink)

The search for understanding is a major aim of science. Traditionally, understanding has been undervalued in the philosophy of science because of its psychological underpinnings; nowadays, however, it is widely recognized that epistemology cannot be divorced from psychology as sharp as traditional epistemology required. This eliminates the main obstacle to give scientific understanding due attention in philosophy of science. My aim in this paper is to describe an account of scientific understanding as an emergent feature of our mastering of different (...) (causal) explanatory frameworks that takes place through the mastering of scientific practices. Different practices lead to different kinds of representations. Such representations are often heterogeneous. The integration of such representations constitute understanding. (shrink)

The present work intends to investigate about explanation models related to the evolution concept in school texts in Argentina, using categories proposed by Bar (2005). The reconstructed model shows characteristics of adaptation systems, models that give account of biological phenomena with end..

O artigo detém-se em mostrar algumas das principais considerações de Walter Benjamin à história, apresentadas em seu texto - Sobre o conceito da história - escrito e publicado em alemão, originalmente, no mesmo ano de seu suicídio, em 1940. A frente do desencadeamento dos movimentos totalitaristas da Europa do século XX, Benjamin propõe um projeto intelectual, voltado a despertar nas classes subalternas o sentimento de revolução e de interrupção do continnun histórico. Para ele, a história sempre é contada do ponto (...) de vista das classes hegemônicas, os vencedores da história. Estes, modelam e dirigem a história conforme seus interesses particulares, excluindo dos processos historiais, as várias contradições políticas, econômicas e sociais do passado. No presente, assim, a história não é contada, narrada e exposta na natureza íntegra e verídica dos fatos. Fato este, que leva o conformismo a todos aqueles que, no instante presente, deveriam redimir as injustiças cometidas no passado pelas classes hegemônicas. Deste modo, será pertinente trabalhar os dezoito aforismo que compõe seu texto, para entender, quais os principais motivos que levaram Benjamin à ter o sentimento pessimista da história. Com isso, busca-se esclarecer, suscintamente, alguns dos principais pressupostos teóricos que compõe seu projeto intelectual. No cerne de sua proposta o conceito de ‘paradoxal reversibilidade recíproca’ (Umschlagen) assume significativa importância pois, é através dele que Benjamin propõe um movimento esquerdista acionário e mais radical do que o marxismo tradicional, para salvar a humanidade da catástrofe histórica: a propagação do liberalismo econômico. (shrink)

The cultivation of an organization’s moral resources has become a priority for many executives who understand that such resources are key to competitive advantage. Yet, traditional strategic management courses at both the undergraduate and MBA levels generally overlook these resources when discussing the resource-based view of the firm. We propose that moral resources be discussed in strategic management classrooms to provide additional insight for students about the critical nature of such resources. We also provide a simple tool for faculty to (...) use in the classroom to stimulate discussion and enhance student learning in this important area. (shrink)

Esse artigo é fruto de um projeto de pesquisa, que busca estabelecer um diálogo Sul-Sul entre o pensamento do educador Paulo Freire e o sociólogo Boaventura Santos, com foco nos temas da democracia e da educação pública na atualidade da sociedade brasileira (2014-2020). Essa pesquisa se assentou numa abordagem qualitativa, priorizando a pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. No entanto, para fins de delimitação desse artigo e de socialização de alguns resultados, centro a análise na contribuição do pensamento de Paulo Freire a (...) partir das margens do Sul, tomando como base seu conceito de “ser mais”, para debater sobre essa crise da democracia e da educação pública na atualidade do país. Ao tomar como base esse conceito de “ser mais”, foi possível identificar tanto os limites estruturantes da democracia liberal na sociedade, em particular na educação, e a necessidade de fazer emergir outras interpretações não eurocêntricas a respeito desses temas, bem como evidenciar um cenário de agudo retrocesso democrático, que demonstra avançar na condição do “ser menos” e, por conseguinte, distorcer, profundamente, a vocação ontológica de ser mais. Palavras-Chave: Paulo Freire; Ser mais; Democracia; Educação Pública; Margens do Sul. Democracy and education crisis in Brazil: a contribution of freirean thought to the debate Abstract: This article is the result of a research project, which seeks to establish a South-South dialogue between the thought of educator Paulo Freire and sociologist Boaventura Santos, focusing on the themes of democracy and public education in the current situation of Brazilian society (2014-2020). This research was based on a qualitative approach, prioritizing bibliographic and documentary research. However, for the purpose of delimiting this article and sharing some results, I focus the analysis on the contribution of Paulo Freire's thought from the Southern margins, based on his concept of “being more”, to debate this crisis of democracy and public education in the country's current situation. Based on this concept of “being more”, it was possible to identify both the structuring limits of liberal democracy in society, in particular in education, and the need to bring out other non-Eurocentric interpretations of these themes, as well as showing a scenario of acute democratic setback, which demonstrates advancing in the condition of “being less” and, therefore, profoundly distorting the ontological vocation of being more. Keywords: Paulo Freire; Being more; Democracy; Public education; Southern margins. Crisis de la democracia y educación en Brasil: una contribución del pensamiento freireano al debate Resumen: Este artículo es el resultado de un proyecto de investigación, que busca establecer un diálogo Sur-Sur entre el pensamiento del educador Paulo Freire y el sociólogo Boaventura Santos, centrándose en los temas de la democracia y la educación pública en la sociedad brasileña actual (2014-2020). Esta investigación se basó en un enfoque cualitativo, dando prioridad a la investigación bibliográfica y documental. Sin embargo, para efectos de delimitación de este artículo y socialización de algunos resultados, centro el análisis en el aporte del pensamiento de Paulo Freire desde los márgenes del Sur, tomando como base su concepto de "ser más", para discutir esta crisis de la democracia y la educación pública en la situación actual del país. Tomando como base este concepto de "ser más", fue posible identificar los límites estructurales de la democracia liberal en la sociedad, particularmente en la educación, y la necesidad de sacar a la luz otras interpretaciones no eurocéntricas de estas cuestiones, así como poner de manifiesto un escenario de aguda regresión democrática, que demuestra avanzar en la condición de "ser menos" y, en consecuencia, desvirtuar profundamente la vocación ontológica de ser más. Palabras clave: Paulo Freire; Ser más; Democracia; Educación Pública; Márgenes del Sur. Data de registro: 18/02/2022 Data de aceite: 26/10/2022. (shrink)

En este artículo sostenemos que, en aquellos casos en los cuales la capacidad _ explanandum _ de un análisis sistémico o mecanicista constituye una función biológica, globalmente, la función explica la estructura y no a la inversa, a pesar de que en algunos casos particulares, el orden en que se determinan los conceptos participantes en la explicación no coincide con el orden de la explicación. Para defender esta tesis, adoptaremos una concepción mínima de explicación basada en la idea de subsunción (...) ampliativa del estructuralismo e ilustraremos las diferencias entre el orden de la explicación y el orden de determinación de los conceptos mediante un estudio de caso tomado de la afasiología moderna. (shrink)

The traditional concept of sovereignty is largely independent of democratic legitimacy and completely indifferent to any obligation towards non-national citizens. But can this traditional concept meet the normative expectations of a post-traditional understanding of political authority as well as the challenges of an ever more interconnected world? In order to respond to this question, the Article analyzes the conceptual presuppositions that lie at the basis of the notion of “sovereignty,” first regarding its sources, and second regarding the ideas of rationality (...) that are applied when sovereign actors operate. As far as the sources of sovereignty are concerned, it is argued that both of them - the “ascending” and the “descending” - although decisive for determining the quality of the legitimacy of political power, have little influence on a positive attitude of sovereigns towards aliens’ interests. To clarify the conditions for an opening of sovereign powers to solidarity, an assessment of the rationalities which are implemented when a sovereign puts actions into effect is therefore required. Yet most rationality concepts - or uses of practical reason - prove to be negative or at least useless when it comes to the question of supporting solidarity: the gamut ranges from open hostility towards the idea of taking the interests of aliens into account, through substantial indifference, to a positive approach which presupposes, however, non-provable metaphysical assumptions or an individual mindset with no pretension of issuing norms of general validity. Only the communicative conception of reason meets the criteria for a convincing justification of solidarity towards aliens as an obligation. The author therefore concludes that only an “ascending” sovereignty based on a communicative understanding of rationality can be considered fully legitimate insofar as the sovereign power, in this case, first originates from the will of the citizens and, second, is morally, politically and legally obliged to a solidaristic attitude towards the justified interests of non-citizens. (shrink)

The author reexamines a number of foundational episodes in the history of western thought through the prism of the notion of “identity philosophy,” a category that includes both parmenidean metaphysics, predicated on the assumption of a transparent relationship between reality and logos, to the exclusion of the irrational and the nothing from the number of thinkable realities, and a Wittgenstein-influenced philosophy of language implying that nothing can be said unless it has previously been fitted to the mathematical form of linguistic (...) articulation that is logics. The question arises of the truth value and sense of dimensions that eludes identity: event, tale and myth. The fact of literature implies that these dimensions somehow partake of truth and sense, but certainly not in the same way as philosophical discourse. How does this happen? What sort of legitimacy can literature draw from philosophy? What does it mean to step beyond Wittgenstein and speak of “narrative thought?”. (shrink)

La presente contribución tiene como objetivo principal desarrollar, quince años después de la última prospección investigadora, una actualización crítica en torno a las vinculaciones entre la filosofía de Nietzsche y las obras del escritor español Baltasar Gracián. Para ello se establecerá un nuevo estado de la cuestión a la luz de las nuevas perspectivas teóricas y de los nuevos datos materiales -especialmente los referidos a la biblioteca personal de Nietzsche-. Dentro de este muestreo se establecerá una catalogación definitiva de las (...) referencias a Gracián en la obra de Nietzsche que incluirá una revisión hermenéutica de dichas citas. Finalmente, se plantearán dos nuevas vías de investigación filosófica que vinculan a ambos pensadores: el escepticismo metafísico, que acerca a Gracián al pirronismo y lo aleja del estoicismo con el que el propio Nietzsche lo vinculaba; y el concepto de “jovialidad científica”, rastreado en el Oráculo manual como una preconfiguración de la figura nietzscheana del espíritu libre. (shrink)

El artículo pone de relieve el papel axial del bien común sobrenatural en la doctrina tomista de la legitimidad política. Con el fin de estudiar esa tesis en la Escuela Tomista contemporánea, el autor se centra en el tratamiento del tema de las relaciones entre Iglesia y Estado en la obra de un importante filósofo tomista del siglo XX, Julio Meinvielle (+1973).