It is still perhaps not widely appreciated that in 1905 Einstein used his postulate concerning the ‘constancy’ of the light-speed in the ‘resting’ frame, in conjunction with the principle of relativity, to derive numerical light-speed invariance. Now a ‘weak’ version of the relativity principle (or, alternatively, appeal to the Michelson—Morley experiment) leads from Einstein's light postulate to a condition that we call universal light-speed constancy. which is weaker than light-speed invariance. It follows from earlier independent investigations (Robertson [1949]; Steigler [1952]; (...) Tzanakis and Kyritsis [1984]) that this condition is none the less sufficient to derive the Lorentz transformations up to a scale factor, given the well-known kinematic principle of ‘reciprocity’. In this paper, we follow Robertson and explore the kinematics consistent with universal light-speed constancy without imposing reciprocity, and we recover the Lorentz transformations by further appeal only to the weak relativity principle and spatial isotropy. (shrink)

We estimate that 208,000 deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices have been implanted to address neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders worldwide. DBS Think Tank presenters pooled data and determined that DBS expanded in its scope and has been applied to multiple brain disorders in an effort to modulate neural circuitry. The DBS Think Tank was founded in 2012 providing a space where clinicians, engineers, researchers from industry and academia discuss current and emerging DBS technologies and logistical and ethical issues facing the field. (...) The emphasis is on cutting edge research and collaboration aimed to advance the DBS field. The Eighth Annual DBS Think Tank was held virtually on September 1 and 2, 2020 (Zoom Video Communications) due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting focused on advances in: (1) optogenetics as a tool for comprehending neurobiology of diseases and on optogenetically-inspired DBS, (2) cutting edge of emerging DBS technologies, (3) ethical issues affecting DBS research and access to care, (4) neuromodulatory approaches for depression, (5) advancing novel hardware, software and imaging methodologies, (6) use of neurophysiological signals in adaptive neurostimulation, and (7) use of more advanced technologies to improve DBS clinical outcomes. There were 178 attendees who participated in a DBS Think Tank survey, which revealed the expansion of DBS into several indications such as obesity, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and Alzheimer’s disease. This proceedings summarizes the advances discussed at the Eighth Annual DBS Think Tank. (shrink)

DBS Think Tank IX was held on August 25–27, 2021 in Orlando FL with US based participants largely in person and overseas participants joining by video conferencing technology. The DBS Think Tank was founded in 2012 and provides an open platform where clinicians, engineers and researchers can freely discuss current and emerging deep brain stimulation technologies as well as the logistical and ethical issues facing the field. The consensus among the DBS Think Tank IX speakers was that DBS expanded in (...) its scope and has been applied to multiple brain disorders in an effort to modulate neural circuitry. After collectively sharing our experiences, it was estimated that globally more than 230,000 DBS devices have been implanted for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. As such, this year’s meeting was focused on advances in the following areas: neuromodulation in Europe, Asia and Australia; cutting-edge technologies, neuroethics, interventional psychiatry, adaptive DBS, neuromodulation for pain, network neuromodulation for epilepsy and neuromodulation for traumatic brain injury. (shrink)

For the last two decades a doctrine called ‘‘eliminative materialism’’ (or sometimes just ‘‘eliminativism’’) has been a major focus of discussion in the philosophy of mind. It is easy to understand why eliminativism has attracted so much attention, for it is hard to imagine a more radical and provocative doctrine. What eliminativism claims is that the intentional states and processes that are alluded to in our everyday descriptions and explanations of people’s mental lives and their actions are _myths_. Like the (...) gods that Homer invoked to explain the outcome of battles, or the witches that Inquisitors invoked to explain local catastrophes, they _do not exist_. According to eliminativists, there are no such things as beliefs or desires or hopes or fears or thoughts. These putative states and processes are the badly misguided posits of a seriously mistaken theory, just like phlogiston and caloric fluid and the luminiferous ether.¹. (shrink)

La noción de interpretación desarrollada en el racionalismo crítico de Karl R. Popper muestra atributos específicos que la distinguen de modo sustancial de la interpretación constitutiva de la experiencia que tanto N. R. Hanson como Th. Kuhn defienden en sus respectivas propuestas. Se muestra que la interpretación del modelo popperiano queda atrapada en una epistemología de corte empirista que la separa de modo radical de toda hermenéutica filosófica. The notion of interpretation developed in the critical rationalism of Karl R. Popper (...) displays specific attributes that substantially distinguish it from the constituent interpretation of experience defended in both N. R. Hanson and T. Kuhn proposals. The article shows that the interpretation of Popper's model is trapped in an empiricist epistemology that radically separates it from all hermeneutic philosophy. (shrink)

Reason and Value collects 15 new papers by leading contemporary philosophers on themes from the work of Joseph Raz. Raz has made major contributions in a wide range of areas, including jurisprudence, political philosophy, and the theory of practical reason; but all of his work displays a deep engagement with central themes in moral philosophy. The subtlety and power of Raz's reflections on ethical topics make his writings a fertile source for anyone working in this area. Especially significant are his (...) explorations of the connections between practical reason and the theory of value, which constitute a sustained and penetrating treatment of a set of issues at the very center of moral philosophy as it is practiced today. The contributors to the volume acknowledge the importance of Raz's contributions by engaging critically with his positions and offering independent perspectives on the topics that he has addressed. The volume aims both to honour Raz's accomplishments in the area of ethical theorizing, and to contribute to an enhanced appreciation of the significance of his work for the subject. (shrink)

The aim of the present paper is to attack some of the conceptual problems that arise when the framework of mathematical learning theory is applied to the description of the behavior of the firm, in setting prices and production quotas, in a competitive market. The goal is to depict the process by which the firm fixes prices and production quotas as a stochastic learning process. A solution to such problems is proposed which is based on statistical-decision concepts. The conceptualization of (...) the behavior of the firm by means of concepts pertaining to mathematical learning theory gives rise to certain mathematical problems, which are formulated here in rather precise terms. (shrink)

Este texto apresenta alguns elementos para se pensar a educação na vida e na obra de Espinosa.

Resumen: Este artículo destaca el lugar fundamental que Hegel da al concepto de Pietät en la conformación ética de la comunidad occidental y su influencia en el pensamiento social. Con base en la tesis hegeliana del origen artístico-religioso de la filosofía, el artículo ubica la Pietät en la lectura que Hegel hizo de la Antígona de Sófocles, y se guía por tres conceptos estructurantes: ley, revelación y conciliación, destacando el lugar radical de la mujer en la humanización de la comunidad, (...) por lo que se conforma en dos partes generales: la exposición preponderantemente masculina y el arribo al planteamiento femenino como intento de superación de la filosofía. Por ello, este trabajo se apoya en la interpretación que hacen algunos pensadores sociales de la lectura hegeliana de la Antígona y concluye que el concepto de Pietät constituye un marco fundamental para el pensamiento de Hegel para revelar el componente sustancial humano-comunitario de la civilización moderna.: This article highlights the fundamental place that Hegel gives to the concept of Pietät in the ethical conformation of the Western community and its influence on social thought. Based on the Hegelian thesis of the artistic-religious origin of philosophy, this work locates concept of Pietät in the reading that Hegel made of Sophocles’ Antigone. Which is why this article is guided by three structuring concepts: law, revelation, and conciliation, standing out the radical site of women in the humanization of civilization, so it is built on two general parts: the preponderantly male exposure and the arriving to a female approach as a try of overcome philosophy. It is why this writing leans on the interpretation some social researchers have made of Hegelian’s reading of Antigone and concludes that the concept of Pietät makes a fundamental framework to Hegel’s thought to reveal the substantial human-communitary component of modern civilization. (shrink)

Aquest article reflexiona el model educatiu català i les implicacions del model de relacions amb la diversitat cultural a l’entorn educatiu, sobretot als àmbits de la socialització i l’ús de la llengua catalana, com a marcadors identitaris simbòlics rellevants. A més d’això, es reflexiona sobre els grups minoritaris a l’entorn educatiu català, en especial els alumnes d’origen no comunitari i d’origen gitano i les seves relacions amb la comunitat d’acollida.This article reflects on the Catalan educational model and the implications of (...) this model on the relations with the cultural diversity on the educational environment, especially on the socialisation and the use of the Catalan language, as relevant symbolic identity markers. On top of that, it reflects on the minority groups on the Catalan educational system, specially about the students of immigrant backgrounds and from Gipsy origin, and their social relations with the hostess community. (shrink)

Today, people are better informed about environmental degradation than ever before. However, this does not imply that people are more engaged toward ecological issues nor are they more committed to achieve greater ecological justice. In this respect, environmental education is paradigmatic: the current generation of young people is, by far and without any doubt, the most knowledgeable and aware of environmental problems thanks, among other things, to the presence since the end of the 20th century of environmental education in primary (...) and secondary school. However, levels of commitment to ecological issues that are significantly higher than before are not observed, except when it comes to individual pro-environmental behavior. How to link environmental awareness with a collective, political, ecosocial and ecocitizen commitment? In order to advance avenues for reflection on this issue, firstly this article presents the elements that characterize the current ecosocial crisis. Secondly, it addresses the ecosocial crisis as a crisis of knowledge that ultimately points to the challenge of transforming the visions of the world. Thirdly, it considers the ecosocial crisis as an opportunity that opens up the possibility of creating new worlds on the planet. Fourthly, the ecosocial crisis is presented as a crisis of contemporary education. Fifthly, it summarizes the two risks to consider in the practice of ecosocial education: the risk of dogmatism and the risk of blaming individuals for global problems. Finally, some clues are proposed that point to the Philosophy for children program as a program that can support the educational practice needed by the current educational and ecosocial crisis, as well as limits recognized risks of ecosocial education. (shrink)

The aim of the present paper is to provide a logical reconstruction of the Marxian Theory of Value. This reconstruction is based upon the concept of abstract as opposed to that of homogeneous labor. Abstract labour is a social relation that holds in a market economy, (at least) whenever the profit rate is uniform; it consists in a comparison of the different labors through the exchange relationship. The author proved in a different place (see García de la Sienra, 1987) that (...) there exists a mathematical representation of abstract labor which is unique up to similarity transformations. The existence of this function — which is none other than the value function — is the basis of the present axiomatization, which includes detailed reconstructions of two of the most important models of the theory. (shrink)

The life of Saint Teresa of Jesus, the most famous mystic of sixteenth-century Spain, was characterized by recurrent visions and states of ecstasy. In this paper, we examine social components related to Teresa’s personal crises and the historical conditions of her times, factors that must be taken into account to understand these unusual forms of experience and behavior. Many of these factors (e.g., increasing individualism and reflexivity) are precursors of the condition of modern times. Indeed, certain parallels can be observed (...) between Saint Teresa and certain present-day psychopathological disorders. The analogy should not, however, be carried too far. Religion played a particularly crucial role in Teresa’s cultural context; as a result, it would be misleading to view her mystical experiences as resulting from a mental disorder. (shrink)

In the Platonic dialogue that bears his name, Protagoras in a myth and in a logos positively affirms the absolute character of universal moral values, such as force themselves upon all men; this makes one think that the famous man-measure dictum was subservient to the ends that the sophist had in view as a teacher of areté. Indeed, his condemnation in that dialogue of the sophists who, like Hippias, included in their teaching mathematical and naturalistic studies must be connected with (...) the criticism of mathematics reported by an Aristotelian text. These studies, that is to say purely theoretic disciplines, were considered by Protagoras not only useless for the spiritual formation of men and citizens, but also void of any certitude and objectivity whatever. We feel therefore allowed to suggest that also the man-measure principle had to perform an office of the same kind: to show that natural philosophy could not yield an objective knowledge of φύσις which formed its object, because such knowledge is denied to man. (shrink)

En la investigación se pretende mostrar, apoyado sobre todo en Gadamer, que entre arte y religión se da un vínculo indisoluble, que dicha relación va más allá del encuentro coyuntural de ciertas épocas, y que para acceder a dicho vínculo es necesario replantear la manera como, desde una óptica fundamentalmente disyuntiva, se autocomprenden dichos conceptos. Esto supone, metodológicamente. el señalamiento de la imposibilidad de abordar dicho vínculo si se parte de la delimitación precisa de los conceptos, por lo que se (...) hace necesario más bien partir de la relación misma. Y tematicamente, implica demostrar la artificialidad de los límites en los que se debate la cultura occidental. (shrink)

Si partimos de la constatación según la cual la “borradura de las huellas” es uno de los efectos que marcan las prácticas totalitarias, una filosofía política que preste atención a las consecuencias de la violencia política totalitaria deberá hacerse cargo, justamente, de la cuestión de la “huella”. Nos detendremos para hacer un análisis de la teoría benjaminiana de la fotografía, e intentar comprender aquello que se enuncia al final de la“Pequeña historia de la fotografía”, cuando Benjamin, refiriéndose a las fotografías (...) de Atget, indica la potencialidad política de la fotografía en la época moderna: reconfigurar la escena de un crimen cometido, y cuyas huellas han sido borradas. If we assume that “deletion of fingerprints” is one of the cruelest consequences of totalitarian practices, a political philosophy that is attentive to the consequences of totalitarian political violence will have to be responsible for the issue of “fingerprints”. The aim of this paper is to address this issue based on Benjamin´s theory of photography. Inweto understandfinal idea inHistory of Photography when, referring to Atget’s photographs, he reveals the political potentialphotography intimes:the reconfigurationa crimewhere the fingerprintsbeen erased. (shrink)

Resumen: El objetivo de este ensayo es presentar el procedimiento, hallazgos y lecciones de una revisión de literatura soportada en elementos estructurados y sistemáticos en una investigación cuyo objetivo es encontrar condiciones de satisfacción para una teoría integrada de la acción colectiva desde la economía política. El resultado de este ejercicio es la exposición de cómo la revisión sistemática de literatura interioriza en el aspecto metodológico de las investigaciones cualitativas la intuición de los autores, sin dejar de lado la asepsia (...) de las revisiones estructuradas. El aporte radica entonces en discutir la importancia de la adopción de reglas para la búsqueda y revisión bibliográfica, al tiempo de advertir la necesidad de incorporar algunos criterios subjetivos para complementar dichas reglas rígidas que supone un protocolo estructurado.: This essay presents the procedure, findings and lessons of a review of literature supported by structured and systematic elements in a research whose objective is to find satisfaction conditions for an integrated theory of collective action from political economy. The result of this exercise is the exposition of how the systematic review of literature internalizes in the methodological aspect of qualitative research the intuition of the authors, without neglecting the asepsis of structured reviews. The contribution then lies in discussing the importance of adopting rules for searching and reviewing the literature, while noting the need to incorporate some subjective criteria to complement these rigid rules that are a structured protocol. (shrink)

The paper discuss the application of qualitative and quantitative techniques in political studies. It describes the classical proposal of Johan Galtung, known as trilateral science, which invites to the permanent contrast to confirm, validate and accept facts and ideas; then it explores Grounded Theory as a mechanism to achieve and explore data in order to identify a possible dialogue with experimental methodology. Finally, it shows social capital as a case study to demonstrate the relevance of multi-methodological applications. El propósito de (...) este texto es discutir la aplicación de técnicas cualitativas y cuantitativas en los estudios políticos. Para ello, se describe la propuesta clásica de Johan Galtung, conocida como trilateralismo, que invita al contraste permanente con el fin de confirmar, validar y aceptar hechos e ideas; luego, se busca explorar la Grounded Theory como mecanismo de consecución y exploración de datos con el fin de identificar un posible diálogo con la metodología experimental. Por último, se aborda el capital social como objeto de estudio que demuestra la pertinencia de aplicaciones multimetodológicas. (shrink)