En El ser y la nada, Sartre desarrolla una noción de libertad negativa que se expresa en la acción nihilizadora del ser en-sí. Sin embargo, en su obra de posguerra Verdad y existencia, la dimensión de la materialidad adquiere un renovado énfasis y como consecuencia, la libertad se expresa en un movimiento afirmativo de desvelamiento del Ser. Estos dos sentidos que adquiere la noción de libertad constituyen distintas manifestaciones del mismo fenómeno y son el resultado de la diversidad de formas (...) en que el propio Sartre articula la relación paradójica entre libertad y facticidad, subjetividad y objetividad. (shrink)

If the history of metaphysics is, as Heidegger suggests, essentially humanist, the questions that have been addressed to humanism, united under the label of posthumanism, face the challenge of establishing a rupture with a bimillenary hegemony of the human against the non-human. This paper will be interested in problematizing the way in which the humanist model has attributed to man the privilege of being the only being capable of acting and shaping the world. The objective will be to explore an (...) expanded perspective of agency towards the animal, vegetable and material world. From the proliferation of the possibilities of agency we will discover, in turn, different ways of forming and inhabiting worlds: the world as a totalizing sphere, as a set of surrounding worlds and as a mixture of material agencies. Finally, this perspective tending towards the de-hierarchization of human agency will be contrasted with the difficulties posed by the notion of the Anthropocene. Man's responsibility for the geological scope of his activity re-emphasizes the centrality of his capacity for agency, thus showing the contradictions that arise in attempts to go beyond humanism. (shrink)

Que la democracia y los procesos de democratización no siguen caminos unidireccionales hacia un único fin o meta es una evidencia. Volver a leer los debates que se dieron durante la independencia de las colonias americanas y la revolución francesa a fines del siglo xviii y, poco más tarde, durante las discusiones que precedieron a la formación de la Confederación Suiza, son tan solo unas pocas pruebas de lo dicho.

Este breve ensayo confronta la experiencia de promoción de instituciones de participación ciudadana en América Latina con la desarrollada recientemente en los ayuntamiento del cambio en España, particularmente en Madrid y Barcelona.

Este trabajo presenta la traducción de un diálogo atribuido a Platón que los estudiosos concuerdan en clasificar como apócrifo: Axíoco. Pese al carácter espurio de la obra, las temáticas desarrolladas, que a partir del interrogante de la muerte abordan cuestiones antropológicas, éticas y metafísicas, muestran una evidente vocación filosófica. Asimismo, los vínculos estructurales, conceptuales y hasta ciertas referencias intertextuales con escuelas consolidadas como el platonismo y el epicureísmo hacen que el diálogo se inscriba en una rica tradición de pensamiento cuya (...) vigencia resulta indudable. (shrink)

Quentin Meillassoux (1967) es un filósofo francés que ha ganado reconocimiento en el campo de las producciones filosóficas contemporáneas a partir de la publicación de Après la finitude. Essai sur la nécessité de la contingence (2006). La intención más notable de su filosofía, denominada por él mismo como materialismo especulativo, ha sido la de señalar los efectos lógicos y materiales producidos por el hecho de que la filosofía haya abandonado la tarea de pensar el absoluto. Para Meillassoux, las posibilidades efectivas (...) de plantearnos un nuevo futuro, es decir, un porvenir que no sea la repetición novedosa del pasado, se encuentra en la exploración de las tierras del absoluto que, desde Kant, han sido abandonadas por la filosofía y hoy son propiedad de fanatismos y creencias religiosas que no tienen un enlace racional con la trascendencia. Tomando como punto de partida estas consideraciones, el presente artículo aborda los siguientes interrogantes: ¿Cómo se establece el vínculo entre el absoluto y la emergencia de lo nuevo? ¿Mediante qué mecanismos formales se podría, a partir de las operaciones lógicas de la especulación, actualizar potenciales que nos habiliten formas aún desconocidas de establecer enlaces lógicos con mundos más allá de nuestro entendimiento actual? En base a textos seleccionados de Meillassoux, incluyendo Après la finitude. Essai sur la nécessité de la contingence (2006), Métaphysique et fiction des mondes hors-science (2015), Le Nombre Et La Sirene Un Dechiffrage Du Coup de Des de Mallarme (2011), “L’immanence d’outre monde” (2009), “Potentialité et virtualité” (2006), y “Soustraction et contraction. À propos d'une remarque de Deleuze sur Matière et mémoire” (2007), este artículo ensaya algunas respuestas acerca del valor del materialismo especulativo en la creación y actualización de nuevos potenciales de un inimaginable futuro humano. (shrink)

El presente texto propone una articulación entre las principales nociones del posfundacionalismo de Jean Luc-Nancy, Alain Badiou, Claude Lefort y Ernesto Laclau y lo que denomino “vitalismo dialectico” de Vladimir Safatle. El cruce planteado es significativo en tanto se considera que la propuesta de Safatle (en obras como El circuito de los afectos [2019] y A paixão do negativo [2006]) viene a habilitar la inscripción del principal axioma teórico posfundacionalista, “la ausencia de fundamento último”, en la propia constitución psicoafectiva del (...) sujeto. Esta operación daría lugar a una biopolítica posfundacional emancipatoria posible de encarnar nuevos cuerpos o formas de subjetivación. (shrink)

El problema se ha nombrado de muchas maneras: incapacidad de proveer políticas acertadas, corrupción, desencanto o abstención electoral, entre otros indicadores de la crisis de legitimidad que atraviesan al sistema. En la búsqueda de soluciones, se discute la viabilidad de mecanismos alternativos o complementarios a los representativos: ¿Es el referendo un buen instrumento para incluir a la ciudadanía en la toma de decisiones? ¿Pueden los procesos deliberativos contrarrestar los efectos de las fake news? ¿Debería el gobierno de los expertos reemplazar (...) a los "incompetentes políticos"? o ¿Debería promoverse el gobierno de "los comunes", seleccionados por sorteo? Aquí discutimos determinados modelos de democracia disponibles -representativa, participativa, deliberativa, aleatoria y monitorizada- para proponer una "ecología de la participación". En otras palabras, sugerimos entender los mecanismos de ejercicio del poder, en un sistema determinado, como estructuras de incentivos socio-políticos que promueven la formación de consensos o la polarización, el control o la delegación, la ampliación de la agenda pública o su restricción, la demagogia o el debate informado. (shrink)

Social inequalities are partly caused by habitual organizational practices. In this vein, to overcome those, organizations now need to develop new organizational capabilities aimed at enhancing their attention towards societal issues. In our study, we apply the theory of mindfulness to explain how it may help organizations overcome habitual organizing that fuels social inequalities. Guided by the microfoundational perspective of organizational capability, we conceptualize individual characteristics, processes, and structures that collectively form mindfulness capability for social justice. We perceive it as (...) an organizational capability that reflects the extent to which an organization possesses a collective social justice awareness, i.e., awareness of the impact on social justice in society through its organizational practices. We argue that, when adopted by organizations, mindfulness, by increasing the awareness of the organizational impact on society, helps notice, examine, and question the correctness of taken-for-granted organizational practices. From our perspective, this new capability will lead to changes in organizational practices that fuel social inequalities. Our study contributes to the literature on sustainable organizational development and mindfulness research in organizations. Managerial implications and future research directions are also discussed. (shrink)

When applied in the health sector, AI-based applications raise not only ethical but legal and safety concerns, where algorithms trained on data from majority populations can generate less accurate or reliable results for minorities and other disadvantaged groups.

The following article proposes an empirical study to explore communication strategies in the Cosa Nostra. Psychological studies on the characteristics of the language within the criminal organization are undoubtedly recent, but crucial to thoroughly understand the characteristics of implicit and explicit communication it adopts in the various contexts it works, as well as the power and value they assume. The data we have obtained from some videos concerning interviews and police interrogations to men of honor have been analyzed through a (...) method that refers to the grounds of qualitative research in clinical psychology, the Grounded Theory by Glaser and Strauss. The analysis we have carried out and its relevant data show us a world of the Mafia where the care for linguistic choices, for both form and contents, is characterized as a crucial activity, even when words are replaced by silence or gestures. (shrink)

BackgroundDrawing from Erikson’s theory, Domino and Affonso constructed the Inventory of Psychosocial Balance, a scale with satisfactory reliability and validity. However, the lack of a credible Chinese version of the scale may hinder research on ego development in Taiwan. The aim of the present study was to construct a short form Chinese IPB. In addition, factor analysis was employed to shorten the original 120-item scale to make it suitable for application in the older adults in the future.MethodsThe study involved three (...) steps: The first step was to establish the 120-items of the Chinese Inventory of Psychosocial Balance, and we conducted translation, back-translation, expert validity, and reliability of pilot study for this step. Following the first step was to construct the short-form C-IPB in the second step, and the CIPB-SF was developed via item analysis and factor analysis. Finally, we assessed the reliability and validity of the CIPB-SF via structural equation model in the third step.ResultsThree hundred eight older adults without cognitive disorder completed the IPB. The 40-item CIPB-SF was completed through item analysis and factor analysis. The internal consistency test of CIPB-SF and the eight stages were good. The CIPB-SF had acceptable validity, except in the intimacy and identity stages, in which validity was only fair. Compared with the IPB, the CIPB-SF had good reliability and acceptable validity. However, because of its conciseness, the 40-item CIPB-SF was more suited for application among the Chinese elderly population because its application avoids physical overload.ConclusionThe CIPB-SF served as a concise scale for assessing ego development in our study. This scale can also serve as a useful tool for convenient screening in the future. (shrink)

Combining physics and philosophy, this is a uniquely interdisciplinary examination of quantum information science. Suitable as both a discussion of the conceptual and philosophical problems of this field and a comprehensive stand-alone introduction, this book will benefit both experienced and new researchers in quantum information and the philosophy of physics.

The present work looks at what we call “the multiverse of quantification”, where visible and invisible numbers permeate all aspects and venues of life. We review the contributions of different authors who focus on the roles of quantification in society, with the aim of capturing different and sometimes separate voices. Several scholars, including economists, jurists, philosophers, sociologists, communication and data scientists, express concerns or identify critical areas of our relationship with new technologies of ‘numericization’. While mindful of the important specificities (...) of the different families of quantification, we use our broad and holistic canvas to explore possible spaces for a more systematic investigation of incumbent and novel quantifications, as to increase communication among disciplinary communities, and among these and society, in the pursuit a democratic agency and self-defence. (shrink)

The biggest contemporary challenge to democratic legitimacy gravitates around the crisis of democratic representation.

Although informed consent is important in clinical research, questions persist regarding when it is necessary, what it requires, and how it should be obtained. The standard view in research ethics is that the function of informed consent is to respect individual autonomy. However, consent processes are multidimensional and serve other ethical functions as well. These functions deserve particular attention when barriers to consent exist. We argue that consent serves seven ethically important and conceptually distinct functions. The first four functions pertain (...) principally to individual participants: (1) providing transparency; (2) allowing control and authorization; (3) promoting concordance with participants' values; and (4) protecting and promoting welfare interests. Three other functions are systemic or policy focused: (5) promoting trust; (6) satisfying regulatory requirements; and (7) promoting integrity in research. Reframing consent around these functions can guide approaches to consent that are context sensitive and that maximize achievable goals. (shrink)

Different types of consent are used to obtain human biospecimens for future research. This variation has resulted in confusion regarding what research is permitted, inadvertent constraints on future research, and research proceeding without consent. The National Institutes of Health Clinical Center's Department of Bioethics held a workshop to consider the ethical acceptability of addressing these concerns by using broad consent for future research on stored biospecimens. Multiple bioethics scholars, who have written on these issues, discussed the reasons for consent, the (...) range of consent strategies, and gaps in our understanding, and concluded with a proposal for broad initial consent coupled with oversight and, when feasible, ongoing provision of information to donors. This article describes areas of agreement and areas that need more research and dialogue. Given recent proposed changes to the Common Rule, and new guidance regarding storing and sharing data and samples, this is an important and tim.. (shrink)

Background Our objective was to evaluate whether the description of a machine learning (ML) app or brain imaging technology to predict the onset of schizophrenia or alcohol use disorder (AUD) influences healthcare professionals’ judgments of stigma, empathy, and compassion. Methods We randomized healthcare professionals (N = 310) to one vignette about a person whose clinician seeks to predict schizophrenia or an AUD, using a ML app, brain imaging, or a psychosocial assessment. Participants used scales to measure their judgments of stigma, (...) empathy, and compassion. Results Participants randomized to the ML vignette endorsed less anger and more fear relative to the psychosocial vignette, and the brain imaging vignette elicited higher pity ratings. The brain imaging and ML vignettes evoked lower personal responsibility judgments compared to the psychosocial vignette. Physicians and nurses reported less empathy than clinical psychologists. Conclusions The use of predictive technologies may reinforce essentialist views about mental health and substance use that may increase specific aspects of stigma and reduce others. (shrink)

concepts typically are defined in terms of lacking physical or perceptual referents. We argue instead that they are not devoid of perceptual information because knowledge of real-world situations is an important component of learning and using many abstract concepts. Although the relationship between perceptual information and abstract concepts is less straightforward than for concrete concepts, situation-based perceptual knowledge is part of many abstract concepts. In Experiment 1, participants made lexical decisions to abstract words that were preceded by related and unrelated (...) pictures of situations. For example, share was preceded by a picture of two girls sharing a cob of corn. When pictures were presented for 500 ms, latencies did not differ. However, when pictures were presented for 1,000 ms, decision latencies were significantly shorter for abstract words preceded by related versus unrelated pictures. Because the abstract concepts corresponded to the pictured situation as a whole, rather than a single concrete object or entity, the necessary relational processing takes time. In Experiment 2, on each trial, an abstract word was presented for 250 ms, immediately followed by a picture. Participants indicated whether or not the picture showed a normal situation. Decision latencies were significantly shorter for pictures preceded by related versus unrelated abstract words. Our experiments provide evidence that knowledge of events and situations is important for learning and using at least some types of abstract concepts. That is, abstract concepts are grounded in situations, but in a more complex manner than for concrete concepts. Although people's understanding of abstract concepts certainly includes knowledge gained from language describing situations and events for which those concepts are relevant, sensory and motor information experienced during real-life events is important as well. (shrink)

Environmental ethics can be cultivated in China and other Asian countries based on Chinese philosophical perspectives. Two major Chinese philosophies relevant to the issues of environmental ethics—Confucianism and Taoism—suggest certain approaches to developing environmental ethics. These approaches can complement each other in developing a Chinese or East Asian theory of environmental ethics. Drawing on these perspectives, China’s Wolong National Nature Reserve can face the challenge of protecting its pandas while developing the local economy. By adopting a set of strategies with (...) elements from both Confucianism and Taoism, Wolong has fared well in both protecting pandas and promoting environmental ethics. This case has implications for both managerial researchers and practitioners. (shrink)

We link cleansing effects to contemporary cognitive theories via an account of event representation that provides an explicit, neurally plausible mechanism for encoding objects and their associations across time. It explains separation as resulting from weakening associations between the self in the present and the self in the past.

The biggest contemporary challenge to democratic legitimacy gravitates around the crisis of democratic representation.

This research aims to examine access to medical treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic for people living with disabilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the practical and ethical problems of allocating limited medical resources such as intensive care unit beds and ventilators became critical. Although different countries have proposed different guidelines to manage this emergency, these proposed criteria do not sufficiently consider people living with disabilities. People living with disabilities are therefore at a higher risk of exclusion from medical treatments as physicians (...) tend to assume they have poor quality of life, whereas access to medical treatment should be based on several parameters, including clinical data and prognosis. However, the COVID-19 pandemic shifts the medical paradigm from person-centred medicine to community-centred medicine, challenging the main ethical theories. We reviewed the main guidelines and recommendations for resources allocation and examined their position toward persons with disabilities. Based on our findings, we propose criteria for not discriminating against people with disabilities in allocating resources. The shift from person-centred to community-centred medicine offers opportunities but also risks sacrificing the most vulnerable people. The principle of reasonable accommodation must always be considered to guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities. (shrink)

Organizational identification has increasingly attracted scholarly attention as a key factor in understanding organizational processes and in fostering efficient human resource management. Available evidence shows that organizational ethical climate crucially predicts OI, a key determinant of both employees’ attitudes and behaviors. In the present paper, we examined the relationship between two specific ethical climates, distributed leadership, and employees’ attitudes and behaviors, incorporating OI as a core underlying mechanism driving these relationships. Three hundred and forty-two employees filled out questionnaires to examine (...) ethical climate, DL, OI, and a series of measures concerning attitudes and behaviors toward the organization. Structural equation modeling confirmed that a perception of an ethical climate of friendship fostered OI, which elicited higher commitment, perceived trust and recommendation, and lower turnover intention. Perception of DL further contributed to increasing OI. Our findings suggest that HR practices should carefully consider employee perceptions of a collectivistic ethical climate, together with perceptions of DL, as key determinants of positive organizational outcomes. We discuss results in light of the social identity approach and present practical implications for HR management. (shrink)

Taiwan was affected by an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in early 2003. A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine (1) the perceptions of risk of SARS infection in nurses; (2) the proportion of nurses considering leaving their job; and (3) work as well as non-work factors related to nurses' consideration of leaving their job because of the SARS outbreak. Nearly three quarters (71.9%) of the participants believed they were 'at great risk of exposure to SARS', 49.9% felt'an (...) increase in workload', and 32.4% thought that people avoided them because of their job; 7.6% of the nurses not only considered that they should not care for SARS patients but were looking for another job or considering resignation. The main predictors of nurses' consideration of leaving their job were shorter tenure, increased work stress, perceived risk of fatality from SARS, and affected social relationships. The findings are important in view of potential impending threats of pandemics such as avian influenza. (shrink)

Army values are the corporate values of the military organization, which guide military personnel, helping them fulfill their military duty to protect national interests, and maintain the security and defense of their state. This article explores ideas about army values and their content among Ukrainian combatants. The army values that ensure the unity of Ukrainian military personnel around their chosen profession and the performance of military duty are moral and physical courage, professionalism, self-discipline, honesty, loyalty, teamwork, dignity, and fortitude. Proponents (...) of a “corporate” military ethics prefer army values that allow for consolidating military personnel around these values, ensuring a sense of belonging to their military organization and their value base. Proponents of an “individual” military ethics are guided by army values based on personal courage and responsibility. The results of our study about army values and their structure will allow us to form and improve the military culture of military personnel, as well as their professional competence and readiness to perform their duties both in peacetime and – at the time of writing – during combat operations. (shrink)

ObjectiveHead and neck cancer treatments are known to significantly affect functionality and appearance, leading to an increased risk for body image disturbances. Yet, few longitudinal studies exist to examine body image in these patients. Based on a conceptual model, the current study aimed to determine, in patients newly diagnosed with HNC: the prevalence, level, and course of body image concerns; correlates of upon cancer diagnosis body image concerns; predictors of immediate post-treatment body image concerns; and association between body image concerns (...) and levels of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, support, and alcohol and drug misuse.MethodsTwo hundred and twenty-three, newly diagnosed with a primary HNC were assessed using structured clinical interviews and psychometric measures at three, and 6 months after diagnosis. Primary outcome was 3-month, as it was most salient to body image disturbance. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted on the potential body image predictors, based on the model.ResultsSixty-eight percent of patients with HNC presented some level of body image concerns. Body image concerns at baseline and post-treatment were significantly related and significantly increased from pre- to post-treatment. Immediately post-treatment, 89% presented some level of body image concerns. Correlates of body image concerns in patients with HNC at baseline included: physical symptom burden, difficulties with communication and eating, coping with the cancer diagnosis using denial, suicidal ideation, and having had a past anxiety diagnosis. When controlling for sociodemographic and medical variables, body image concerns in patients with HNC in the immediate post-treatment were predicted by: baseline body image, physical symptom burden, and neuroticism.ConclusionThis longitudinal study helps identify patients more susceptible to experience body image disturbance following head and neck cancer. Clinicians ought to pay special attention to body image concerns upon cancer diagnosis, physical symptom burden, and neuroticism, and may want to target these factors in future preventive interventions. (shrink)

The editors of the JRE solicited short essays on the COVID‐19 pandemic from a group of scholars of religious ethics that reflected on how the field might help them make sense of the complex religious, cultural, ethical, and political implications of the pandemic, and on how the pandemic might shape the future of religious ethics.