Este artículo analiza los diálogos posibles entre el pensamiento de Giorgio Agamben y la novela _Frankenstein_ de Mary Shelley. Así, el filósofo italiano describe aspectos centrales que indagan los modos en que el biopoder captura la nuda vida. En efecto, a través del concepto de _máquina_ –la antropológica, el lenguaje y la gubernamental– se describen los dispositivos capaces de volver la potencia de vida a los cálculos del poder. Por otro lado, _Frankenstein_ construye una serie de escenas en la que (...) la voz de la Cosa interpela a su creador, Víctor Frankenstein, en una dimensión ética por su negligencia y falta de cuidado. La interpelación se dirige a un personaje pero, tomando los términos de Agamben, Víctor Frankenstein forma parte de una maquinaria mayor de la que él mismo termina siendo víctima. La ficción explicita además la falla de la maquinaria biopolítica por cuanto su protagonista se afirma en la vida procurando hallar sentidos posibles de existencia. (shrink)

While punishment is a longstanding object of philosophical scrutiny, other controversial aspects of the justice system, such as policing, have flown under the radar. In this paper, we consider possible reasons why philosophers interested in crime and punishment have neglected policing. We make the case for a broader account of the political morality of the justice system, with a particular emphasis on policing. We sketch the outlines of an egalitarian version of such a theory, highlighting parallels between policing and the (...) welfare state. Finally, we turn to recent calls for police abolition. Evaluating such radical claims requires, we argue, going beyond the traditional confines of the philosophy of punishment and considering a more holistic and interdisciplinary theory of criminal justice. (shrink)

Artículos ¿Por qué democracia? Referencia a los derechos humanos y a la ciudadanía. Why democracy? Reference to human rights and citizenship. Bozo de Carmona, Ana Julia Libertad de expresión y "libertad cómica". Free speech and "comical liberty".Calvo González, José La justicia según J. Finnis. Justice according to John Finnis. Hocevar G., Mayda G. El lenguaje sagrado y su escritura. The sacred language and its writing. Lizaola, Julieta Del carácter coactivo de la μετηνεστασζ en Tucídides. On cornening to compelling nature of (...) Thucydides' μετηνεστασζ. Meabe, Joaquín E. Apuntes para una filosofía crítica de la historia regional. Notes for a critical philosophy concern to the regional history. Mora García, José Pascual Competencia política partidista en los textos de Simón Bolívar . The defender political competition in the Simon Bolivar’s writings . Ortiz Palanques, Marco Fundamentación socio-jurídica de los procesos normativos. Social and juridical reasoning about the normatives changes. Pavó Acosta, Rolando Filosofía y psicopatología en Karl Jaspers: los entramados de la existencia. Philosophy and psychopathology in Karl Jaspers: the studworks of the existence. Portuondo Pajón, Gladys L. La doctrina platónica del alma en la «república». The platonic doctrine of the soul in the «republic» dialogue. Suzzarini, Andrés Una aproximación a la concepción romana del derecho. An estimate study to the roman concept of law. Terán Pimentel, Milagros Interdisciplinares Lo dionisíaco y lo apolíneo en Don Juan Tenorio. The dionysiac and the apolline in Don Juan Tenorio. Pérez Lo Presti, Alirio. (shrink)

This article addresses the critique of the modern conception of history and time through a reading of Hannah Arendt. Arendt’s work provides an alternative to the thought with universal pretensions that has dominated the panorama of modernity. She thinks the historical through contradiction and gives a place to human experience next to facts. In thinking the event Arendt shows the insufficiency of the modern chronological appropriation of the past and the limits of using theory as a given framework of interpretation. (...) Understanding the historical event is to challenge the chronology assumed in our forms of understanding and representing the real. Her work blurs the tacit boundary that lurks in modern forms of representation between a ‘dynamic’ present and a ‘congealed’ past. Arendt’s thinking provides a critique of the modern notions of time and history as of the use of theory as a fixed framework of interpretation. (shrink)

En este artículo se analizan las posiciones de José Imbelloni y Alfred Métraux respecto a la cultura de la Isla de Pascua. Abordar esta cuestión los llevaba a discutir sobre las relaciones que habían existido, o no, entre Oceanía y América. El debate que aquí desarrollamos se centra en dos elementos de la cultura material de la isla: los moais y las tabletas parlantes. El punto central, y en el que oscilarán ambos antropólogos, es entre la cuestión de la originalidad, (...) y autonomía, de los rasgos culturales de los pascuenses, o el préstamo, y origen foráneo, de esos rasgos. Se discute así cuánto hay de creativo y cuánto de copia en una cultura. (shrink)

Against the background of the 2022 national elections in the Philippines, in which the Church failed in the moral fight against the return of the Marcoses and the continuation of the Duterte regime in power, this article makes a social discernment as to why the Church has not succeeded in its social mission in shaping the social consciousness of the Filipino people. Why has the Catholic social tradition not taken root in the Philippine soil and in the Filipino soul? The (...) author argues that the Church has located itself in the center rather than grounding itself in the margins. The author proposes a reappropriation of the Catholic social tradition from the margins to more dynamically transform Philippine society. (shrink)

The contribution offers an interpretation of the last phase of Nietzsche’s production, based on the influence of some economic concepts. In 1887, Nietzsche encountered the work of the proto-marginalist economist Emmanuel Herrmann and his book “Cultur und Natur: Studien im Gebiete der Wirthschaft”. At the time, Nietzsche was working on the attempt – later abandoned – to offer a comprehensive interpretation of Western metaphysics and history. aimed at a “transvaluation of all values” and based on the idea of will to (...) power. Herrmann’s economic theory played a significant role in this project, offering a model capable of articulating all social and natural processes – and particularly life – in terms of purely immanent relations. By linking the ideas of transvaluation and will-to-power to the logic of capitalistic accumulation and of market society, we can gain an understanding of the influence of economical concepts on Nietzsche’s project, which should in turn allow a better evaluation of its historical relevance. (shrink)

In treatises or advanced textbooks on theoretical physics, it is apparent that the way mathematics is used is very different from what is to be found in books of mathematics. There is, for example, no close connection between books on analysis, on the one hand, and any classical textbook in quantum mechanics, for example, Schiff, [11], or quite recent books, for example Ryder, [10], on quantum field theory. The differences run a good deal deeper than the fact that the books (...) on theoretical physics are not written in the definition-theorem-proof style characteristic of pure mathematics. Although a good many propositions are proved in the books on physics, there are almost with exception no existential proofs, and consequently there is no really serious systematic use of quantifiers. Another important characteristic is the free use of infinitesimals. In fact, most results would not lose anything, from a physicist's point of view, by leaving them in approximate form, i.e., instead of strict equalities or inequalities, using equalities or inequalities only up to an infinitesimal.The discrepancy between the way mathematics is ordinarily done in theoretical physics and the way it is built up from a foundational standpoint in any of the standard modern views raises the question of whether it might be possible to construct quite directly a rigorous foundation that reflects a significant part of this standard practice in theoretical physics. Other parts of standard practice in physics, for example, the use of physically intuitive but nonrigorous arguments, are not present in our system. (shrink)

This article is a reflection on chance as a scientific object, starting from a materialistic point of view. I analyze the relationship between motion and complexity by introducing the notion of an open system and the categories that result from it: state of nature and observable, to review the debate on chance and certainty.

This article is a reflection on chance as a scientific object, starting from a materialistic point of view. I analyze the relationship between motion and complexity by introducing the notion of an open system and the categories that result from it: state of nature and observable, to review the debate on chance and certainty.

Recensión de S. Fish, The trouble with principle, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2001.

The article shows that Habermas’s modernism and Lyotard’s postmodernism are not as antithetical as they are often taken to be. First, we argue that Habermas is not a strong foundationalist concerned with identifying universal rules for language, as postmodern critiques have often interpreted him. Instead, he develops a social pragmatics in which the communicative use of language is the fundamental presupposition of any meaningful interaction. Second, we argue that Lyotard is not a relativist who denies any universal linguistic structure. Instead, (...) he claims that language involves a universal element of dissensus that cannot be subordinated to consensus. Third, we show that neither does Habermas defend a new version of the kind of philosophy of history characteristic of the Enlightenment, nor is Lyotard a historical relativist, but instead they both seek alternatives to these positions. The conclusion calls for more nuance in the interpretation of both perspectives. (shrink)

Este estudio es una aproximación al tema del trabajo desde el pensamiento sociológico de Zygmunt Bauman. Uno de los textos más conocidos de Bauman al respecto es Trabajo, consumismo y nuevos pobres; sin embargo, este es un tema que el sociólogo trata en otras obras. Aquí se pretende dar una visión en la que se tienen en cuenta la globalidad de sus escritos. Además, se dan unas claves que permiten comprender el enfoque que Bauman tiene del trabajo: se hace una (...) breve explicación de su perspectiva sociológica y de la importancia de la modernidad en su pensamiento. Por último, se expone cómo el trabajo cambia de sentido e importancia en la modernidad sólida y en la líquida. (shrink)

Bourrat and Griffiths :33, 2018) have recently argued that most of the evidence presented by holobiont defenders to support the thesis that holobionts are evolutionary individuals is not to the point and is not even adequate to discriminate multispecies evolutionary individuals from other multispecies assemblages that would not be considered evolutionary individuals by most holobiont defenders. They further argue that an adequate criterion to distinguish the two categories is fitness alignment, presenting the notion of fitness boundedness as a criterion that (...) allows divorcing true multispecies evolutionary individuals from other multispecies assemblages and provides an adequate criterion to single out genuine evolutionary multispecies assemblages. A consequence of their criterion is that holobionts, as conventionally defined by hologenome defenders, are not evolutionary individuals except in very rare cases, and for very specific host-symbiont associations. This paper is a critical response to Bourrat and Griffiths’ arguments and a defence of the arguments presented by holobiont defenders. Drawing upon the case of the hologenomic basis of the evolution of sanguivory in vampire bats, I argue that Bourrat and Griffiths overlook some aspects of the biological nature of the microbiome that justifies the thesis that holobionts are evolutionarily different to other multispecies assemblages. I argue that the hologenome theory of evolution should not define the hologenome as a collection of genomes, but as the sum of the host genome plus some traits of the microbiome which together constitute an evolutionary individual, a conception I refer to as the stability of traits conception of the hologenome. Based on that conception I argue that the evidence presented by holobiont defenders is to the point, and supports the thesis that holobionts are evolutionary individuals. In this sense, the paper offers an account of the holobiont that aims to foster a dialogue between hologenome advocates and hologenome critics. (shrink)

The paper defends an interactive theory of the distinctiveness of criminal law. It argues that criminal law’s distinctive behavior can be connected to the interaction between five traits: it is an institutional practice administered by a large and special bureaucracy, playing a substantial role in authorizing the use of coercive police force, leading to a harsh sanctioning regime linked, at least in part, with core wrongs and notions of personal responsibility. Although none of these features is exclusive to criminal law, (...) their interaction leads to modes of behavior that set it apart from other institutions. The paper argues that putting attention on the effects of this interaction provides us with powerful tools to both understand and asses the value and problems of criminal law. (shrink)

Este trabajo intenta analizar la concepción, naturaleza jurídica y garantía de los derechos económicos, sociales y culturales, en América Latina, así como las condiciones y medidas que pueden contribuir a su efectividad. Presenta tambien una propuesta de indicadores que pueden utilizarse en la supervision de la efectividad de esos derechos y de la proteccion que ellos han alcanzado, proporcionando información sobre la situactón latinoamericana y caribeña actual.

Ortega trasladó sus ideas pedagógicas a su quehacer como profesor universitario. Muchos de sus discípulos y colaboradores han dejado constancia de ello, como aquí se refiere. Fue para ellos, sobre todo ejemplo, ejemplo de vida, de orientación vital, de sinceridad intelectual en su quehacer filosófico. En este artículo no analizamos la filosofía de Ortega, lo que hemos hecho en otros textos, sino el impacto que causó la «persona» Ortega en sus colaboradores y discípulos. Aunque es algo estudiando, nunca se ha (...) presentado de esta forma sintética que muestra la envergadura del impacto que Ortega produjo en el mundo intelectual de la Edad de Plata de la cultura española. (shrink)

Contemporary biological research has suggested that some host–microbiome multispecies systems (referred to as “holobionts”) can in certain circumstances evolve as unique biological individual, thus being a unit of selection in evolution. If this is so, then it is arguably the case that some biological adaptations have evolved at the level of the multispecies system, what we call hologenomic adaptations. However, no research has yet been devoted to investigating their nature, or how these adaptations can be distinguished from adaptations at the (...) species-level (genomic adaptations). In this paper, we cover this gap by investigating the nature of hologenomic adaptations. By drawing on the case of the evolution of sanguivory diet in vampire bats, we argue that a trait constitutes a hologenomic adaptation when its evolution can only be explained if the holobiont is considered the biological individual that manifests this adaptation, while the bacterial taxa that bear the trait are only opportunistic beneficiaries of it. We then use the philosophical notions of emergence and inter-identity to explain the nature of this form of individuality and argue why it is special of holobionts. Overall, our paper illustrates how the use of philosophical concepts can illuminate scientific discussions, in the trend of what has recently been called metaphysics of biology. (shrink)

Symbiosis plays a fundamental role in contemporary biology, as well as in recent thinking in philosophy of biology. The discovery of the importance and universality of symbiotic associations has brought new light to old debates in the field, including issues about the concept of biological individuality. An important aspect of these debates has been the formulation of the hologenome concept of evolution, the notion that holobionts are units of natural selection in evolution. This review examines the philosophical assumptions that underlie (...) recent proposal of the hologenome concept of evolution, and traces those debates back in time to their historical origins, to the moment when the connection between the topics of symbiosis and biological individuality first caught the attention of biologists. The review is divided in two parts. The first part explores the historical origins of the connection between the notion of symbiosis and the concept of biological individuality, and emphasizes the role of A. de Bary, R. Pound, A. Schneider and C. Merezhkowsky in framing the debate. The second part examines the hologenome concept of evolution and explores four parallelisms between contemporary debates and the debates presented in the first part of the essay, arguing that the different debates raised by the hologenome concept were already present in the literature. I suggest that the novelty of the hologenome concept of evolution lies in the wider appreciation of the importance of symbiosis for maintaining life on Earth as we know it. Finally, I conclude by suggesting the importance of exploring the connections among contemporary biology, philosophy of biology and history of biology in order to gain a better understanding of contemporary biology. (shrink)

Holobionts are symbiotic assemblages composed by a host plus its microbiome. The status of holobionts as individuals has recently been a subject of continuous controversy, which has given rise to two main positions: on the one hand, holobiont advocates argue that holobionts are biological individuals; on the other, holobiont detractors argue that they are just mere chimeras or ecological communities, but not individuals. Both parties in the dispute develop their arguments from the framework of the philosophy of biology, in terms (...) of what it takes for a “conglomerate” to be considered an interesting individual from a biological point of view. However, the debates about holobiont individuality have important ontological implications that have remained vaguely explored from a metaphysical framework. The purpose of this paper is to cover that gap by presenting a metaphysical approach to holobionts individuality. Drawing upon a conception of natural selection that puts the focus on the transgenerational recurrence of the traits and that supports the thesis that holobionts are units of selection, we argue that holobionts bear emergent traits and exert downward powers over the entities that compose them. In this vein, we argue, a reasonable argument can be made for conceiving holobionts as emergent biological individuals. (shrink)

Given one conception of biological individuality (evolutionary, physiological, etc.), can a holobiont – that is the host + its symbiotic (mutualistic, commensalist and parasitic) microbiome – be simultaneously a biological individual and an ecological community? Herein, we support this possibility by arguing that the notion of biological individuality is part‐dependent. In our account, the individuality of a biological ensemble should not only be determined by the conception of biological individuality in use, but also by the biological characteristics of the part (...) of the ensemble under investigation. In the specific case of holobionts, evaluations of their individuality should be made either host‐relative or microbe‐relative. We support the claim that biological individuality is part‐dependent by drawing upon recent empirical evidence regarding the physiology of hosts and microbes, and the recent characterization of the ‘demibiont’. Our account shows that contemporary disagreements about the individuality of the holobiont derive from an incorrect understanding of the ontology of biological individuality. We show that collaboration between philosophers and biologists can be very fruitful in attempts to solve some contemporary biological debates. (shrink)

Pathogenic bacteria frequently target the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria in order to exploit host functions. ER‐mitochondria inter‐organelle communication is topologically sub‐compartmentalized at mitochondria‐associated ER membranes (MAMs). MAMs are specific membranous microdomains with unique regulatory functions such as lipid synthesis and trafficking, calcium homeostasis, mitochondrial morphology, inflammasome activation, autophagosome formation, and apoptosis. These important cellular processes are all modulated by pathogens to subvert host functions and promote infection, thus it is tempting to assume that pathogenic bacteria target MAMs to subvert (...) these different pathways in their hosts. First lines of evidence that support this hypothesis come from Legionella pneumophila. This intracellular bacterium secretes an effector that exhibits sphingosine‐1 phosphate lyase activity (LpSpl) that seems to target MAMs to modulate the autophagy response to infection. Here we thus propose the concept that MAMs could be targeted by pathogenic bacteria to undermine key host cellular processes. (shrink)

Information and communication technologies , with their increasing and widespread utilization in daily life, may exert an important impact on brain performances. The development of their use for improving several cerebral processes, by abolishing the brain/machine interface, is envisaged and is subject to debate. The scientific research on brain implants and brain gene transfer aiming to restore central nervous system functions, altered by disease or trauma, may contribute to this debate. Indeed, the advances that are enabling non drug-mediated approaches for (...) direct interventions on the brain are raising the possibility not only of restoring neural functions for therapeutic purposes, but also of monitoring, controlling and ultimately modifying from the outside these functions for enhancement. This paper gives an overview of the state of the art of brain implants and brain gene transfer for neurological diseases with a particular emphasis on Parkinson’s disease and a forecast on their possible application for other conditions. In doing so, the authors, who are neuroscientists working in the field of gene transfer for neuropsychiatric diseases, aim to establish a scientifically, medically and technically realistic framework to open up discussion on relevant ethical issues in this domain. (shrink)