Transformar el modo de vida individual es necesario para abordar la crisis ecosocial, y resulta perentorio que las políticas comprometidas con su resolución promocionen una capacidad individual de acción ecosocial. Sin embargo, parece que cierta brecha motivacional está obstaculizando la transformación del modo de vida individual. A fin de dar respuesta a esta brecha, ensayamos una mixtura del enfoque de las capacidades con las teorías de Hartmut Rosa. Argumentamos que la resonancia natural funge de factor personal de conversión necesario, si (...) bien no suficiente, para la capacidad de acción ecosocial; y que una política que promocione la resonancia natural se adecuaría también a los requisitos impuestos al desarrollo humano tanto por el enfoque de las capacidades como por la sostenibilidad. (shrink)

This paper presents an experience in developing professional ethics by an approach that integrates knowledge, teaching methodologies and assessment coherently. It has been implemented for students in both the Software Engineering and Computer Engineering degree programs of the Technical University of Madrid, in which professional ethics is studied as a part of a required course. Our contribution of this paper is a model for formative assessment that clarifies the learning goals, enhances the results, simplifies the scoring and can be replicated (...) in other contexts. A quasi-experimental study that involves many of the students of the required course has been developed. To test the effectiveness of the teaching process, the analysis of ethical dilemmas and the use of deontological codes have been integrated, and a scoring rubric has been designed. Currently, this model is also being used to develop skills related to social responsibility and sustainability for undergraduate and postgraduate students of diverse academic context. (shrink)

Background: Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing [EMDR] is an innovative, evidence-based and effective psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]. As with other psychotherapies, the effectiveness of EMDR contrasts with a limited knowledge of its underlying mechanism of action. In its relatively short life as a therapeutic option, EMDR has not been without controversy, in particular regarding the role of the bilateral stimulation as an active component of the therapy. The high prevalence of EMDR in clinical practice and the dramatic increase (...) in EMDR research in recent years, with more than 26 randomized controlled trials published to date, highlight the need for a better understanding of its mechanism of action. Methods: We conducted a thorough systematic search of studies published until October 2017, using PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Knowledge and Scopus databases that examined the mechanism of action of EMDR or provided conclusions within the framework of current theoretical models of EMDR functioning. Results: Seventy-five studies were selected for review and classified into three overarching models; (i) psychological models (ii) psychophysiological models and (iii) neurobiological models. The evidence available from each study was analysed and discussed. Results demonstrated a reasonable empirical support for the working memory hypothesis and for the physiological changes associated with successful EMDR therapy. Recently, more sophisticated structural and functional neuroimaging studies using high resolution structural and temporal techniques are starting to provide preliminary evidence into the neuronal correlates before, during and after EMDR therapy. Discussion: Despite the increasing number of studies that published in recent years, the research into the mechanisms underlying EDMR therapy are still in its infancy. Studies in well-defined clinical and non-clinical populations, larger sample sizes and tighter methodological control are further needed in order to establish firm conclusions. (shrink)

The article pursues three main objectives. First, I review and clarify the core philosophical foundations of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice and Patricia H. Collins’s intersectional theory. Second, I examine the proximity of these two epistemological frameworks by comparing them with concrete references and practical examples. Finally, I investigate the synergistic possibilities of integrating the two political theories, highlighting conceptual and methodological gaps that further integration could address. This comparative analysis provides the groundwork for effectively developing an intersectional theory of (...) practice. (shrink)

Este artículo se adentra en los temas y tópicos vitales de la obra literaria de Eliacer Cansino, escritor dedicado a la literatura juvenil, e invita a reflexionar sobre cómo su lectura puede desarrollar el pensamiento crítico de los jóvenes lectores del siglo XXI. Para abordar esta investigación, se ha recurrido a una metodología de corte cualitativo, con especial atención a la narrativa biográfica. De esta manera, dado que literatura y realidad constituyen dos caras de una moneda al forjar lectores, se (...) analizó el perimundo literario de Eliacer Cansino. Los resultados justifican que la lectura de la obra de este autor es un referente literario para el desarrollo del pensamiento crítico desde la experiencia lectora de los adolescentes. (shrink)

Delusions are one of the most classical symptoms described in schizophrenia. However, despite delusions are often emotionally charged, they have been investigated using tasks involving non-affective material, such as the Beads task. In this study we compared 30 patients with schizophrenia experiencing delusions with 32 matched controls in their pattern of responses to two versions of the Beads task within a Bayesian framework. The two versions of the Beads task consisted of one emotional and one neutral, both with ratios of (...) beads of 60:40 and 80:20, considered, respectively, as the “difficult” and “easy” variants of the task. Results indicate that patients showed a greater deviation from the normative model, especially in the 60:40 ratio, suggesting that more inaccurate probability estimations are more likely to occur under uncertainty conditions. Additionally, both patients and controls showed a greater deviation in the emotional version of the task, providing evidence of a reasoning bias modulated by the content of the stimuli. Finally, a positive correlation between patients’ deviation and delusional symptomatology was found. Impairments in the 60:40 ratio with emotional content was related to the amount of disruption in life caused by delusions. These results contribute to the understanding of how cognitive mechanisms interact with characteristics of the task in the context of delusional thinking. These findings might be used to inform improved intervention programs in the domain of inferential reasoning. (shrink)

La técnica forma parte de la naturaleza del ser humano. Pertenece a su esencia desde su transformación de homo naturalis a homo faber. Siguiendo a Ortega y Gasset (1939), el ser humano como ser natural es un animal biológicamente menesteroso y necesitado ante los retos y dificultades que le presenta la naturaleza. Su salvación –la superación de los obstáculos que lo hubieran conducido casi con toda probabilidad a su extinción como especie– ha radicado en el desarrollado de su capacidad técnica. (...) Mediante ella el ser humano ha podido construir sobre la naturaleza un medio artificial. Es a ese medio al que el ser humano se viene “ajustando” desde su principio como tal ser humano. En ese proceso ha invertido el proceso de adaptación a la naturaleza común y corriente entre el resto de los seres vivos. El ser humano no se adapta a la naturaleza, sino que la naturaleza –filtrándose a través del medio artificial que dicho ser construye sobre ella– se adapta al ser humano. En resumen, la técnica le permite al ser humano construir un medio artificial –una supranaturaleza–. Es a ese medio al que se adapta, venciendo de este modo su estado de precariedad y superando así las limitaciones que le vienen impuestas por los dictados de la naturaleza a la hora de satisfacer sus necesidades. Sin técnica, en definitiva, no habría ser humano. Si esto es así, ¿debemos sujetar la técnica a control o debe ser autónoma? Técnicamente, todo cuanto pueda hacerse, ¿debe hacerse? No perdamos de vista a la hora de responder a estas cuestiones que, en la actualidad, las nuevas tecnologías están posibilitando alcanzar metas hasta hace poco tiempo impensables, ¿las limitamos? Y, si lo hacemos, ¿cuáles son los límites? (shrink)

Vocational Education and Training policies are paying increasing attention towards the need to develop quality career guidance processes. Career guidance plays an essential role in this challenge by enabling people to develop the career management skills that allow them to become aware of their full potential and to construct life projects that facilitate the emotional management of uncertainty and complexity, participating as responsible agents in their environment. After conducting a literature review on each of these key elements, we set out (...) to identify best practices in VET as “building blocks” for the construction of an integrated career guidance plan in VET. This study adopts an approach based on qualitative methodology, specifically a documentary type of research has been carried out. The documents analysed correspond to 88 best practices identified in Andalusia. The analysis strategy used was a content analysis. For this purpose, a system of categories has been designed, from a deductive perspective, which has contributed to a systematic analysis of them. One of the first conclusions of the study is the uneven development o best practices in the different VET professional pathways. The practices carried out in the centres begin to incorporate different elements and thus facilitate the creation of a suitable context for the development of comprehensive career guidance plans in VET. The article closes by offering implications for the development of guidance in the education system and discusses lines of future research. (shrink)

Entrevista de Paula Romero Polo, Teresa Moreno Olmeda y María del Buey Cañas a Aida González Rossi.

Presentación al dossier «Cuerpos, materias y otros restos», coordinado por Paula Romero Polo, Teresa Moreno Olmeda y María del Buey Cañas.

Child-to-parent violence is a growing public health problem with consequences for perpetrators and families. Most research has focused on individual and family risk factors. However, little is known about its links with individual outcomes. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between CPV and psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and self-concept in school-aged adolescents, taking into account the gender perspective. A study was conducted with a sample of 8,115 adolescents, aged between 11 and 16 years from the State (...) of Nuevo León, Mexico. A MANOVA 3 × 2 was performed to analyze the data. The results revealed that adolescents involved in CPV showed higher levels of psychological distress and suicidal ideation and lower levels of family and social self-concept. It was also observed that girls with higher levels of CPV scored the lowest levels of psychological distress and suicidal ideation, as well as the lowest levels of family self-concept. The findings highlight that adolescents and especially girls involved in CPV also report internal maladjustment outcomes. Finally, the results and their implications for research and intervention with adolescents involved in CPV are discussed. (shrink)

The aim of the present study is to analyze individual differences in academic self-efficacy within a population of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors from the European cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Variables describing educational level and length of stay were considered in a sample of 377 individuals being cared for in different youth centers. Of these, 63.4% belonged to the group who had stayed at the center for less than 9 months and 36.6% reported a length of stay of more than 9 (...) months. The age of participants ranged between 8 and 17 years old. Once the quality parameters of the instrument were elaborated, reliability and validity was confirmed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis using Structural Equation Modeling methodology. Data collection was then initiated. The results overall indicate that 87.6% of those who completed the questionnaire reported a higher level of self-efficacy with regards to working with any classmate, whilst at the same time seeing themselves as capable of achieving good marks. ANOVA results indicated significant differences with respect to educational level and length of stay. In this regard, students who had received professional training and had been at the Center for more than 9 months, were the ones who developed greater academic self-efficacy for spending more time working when tasks were judged to be difficult. The results obtained demonstrate that any intervention will be positive as long as it promotes different institutions to develop strategies that cater to a length of stay of more than 9 months and target education, academic self-efficacy, socialization and strengthening the future workforce. Such interventions can be directed through new European, Spanish or local level policies. It is clear that institutions still have a lot of work left to do. (shrink)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly viewed as a strategic management tool for companies to draw in candidates. In this arena, international responsible rankings such as ‘The Great Place to Work’, ‘Family Responsible Employer Index (FREE)’ or ‘The Best Companies for Working Mothers’ put emphasis on the value of responsible behaviours, not only for surviving in the market, but also to ‘win the war for talent’. Using a sample of Spanish University students, this research aims to analyse the process of (...) selecting responsible organizations to work and whether there is a possible future conflict of interest by students between their own and organizational values. Surprisingly, the university students assessed two opposing situations with the highest values: of looking to change employer and of letting time pass in order to ignore the conflict. The implications of the students’ assessments and the related factors which affect their decision-making criteria are explored in this article. (shrink)

El mito platónico de Prometeo, con el robo del fuego a los dioses, simboliza el despegue del más apasionante reto de la Humanidad, la aventura del conocimiento. Dédalo con sus ingenios persiguió en vano la estela; y el rapto de Europa por Zeus, no en su vertiente ortodoxa, sino tal como lo representa Bayros, clausura un periplo en pos del bienestar que hoy se muestra tan esperanzador como amenazante. Cuando estamos a punto de realizar el imperativo de Francis Bacon (...) dominando el mundo natural, éste se resiste y rebela dejando al descubierto la fragilidad de la criatura humana. Piqueras como contrapunto esporádico es un testigo del pasado, un aldabonazo en la conciencia. El imperativo tecnológico resume este momento de inflexión en el que nos hallamos: un punto ¿de no retorno?, ante el que la conciencia moral zozobra y que puede marcar el sino de la humanidad doliente. Hasta aquí nos ha traído el apogeo de lo racional, hasta la crisis que todo lo impregna. Si esto es un cuento de Calleja, no acertamos a vislumbrar la moraleja. (shrink)

reseña del libro José Luis Moreno Pestaña y José Manuel Romero Cuevas (coords.). Recuperar el socialismo. Un debate con Axel Honneth. Madrid: Akal, 2022.

Introducción a la problemática jurídica actual, por R. M. Alsina.--La filosofía de la cultura, por Francisco Romero.--El sentido del derecho para la vida humana, por Juan Llambías de Azevedo.--El derecho como objeto y la ciencia del derecho, por E. R. Aftalión.--Las especies del saber jurídico (consideraciones de epistemología) por Manuel Río.--Posición cultural de las orientaciones políticas, por M. T. Ruiz Moreno.

Fundada en noviembre de 1962 por Progreso Alfarache, Comunidad Ibérica (C.I.) fue una publicación bimensual que alcanzó los 50 ejemplares. Su último número (49-50) apareció en 1971 compilando cuatro meses (noviembre-febrero). La revista dejó de publicarse por falta de capital; su director había dejado claro desde el primer ejemplar que la empresa cultural era una sin ánimo de lucro: «C.I. no es una empresa comercial». De ahí que sobreviviera gracias a las donaciones y a las suscripciones de sus lectores mostrando (...) coherencia con sus ideales libertarios. A partir del n.º 3 (marzo-abril 1963) se publicitó esa financiación en una pequeña sección denominada «Estado de cuentas de C.L.». Sus dimensiones eran de 22,5cm x 16,5cm y su número de páginas oscilaba entre las 64 de su primer número, las 35 del n.° 15 y las 132 del n.° 29-30. De los números 1 al 7 tuvo como dirección postal el apartado 13721 de México D.F. Fidel Miró fue su primer editor, con Francisco Romero de administrador. Progreso Alfarache -secretario del sindicato de la CNT en México- ejerció de director. El precio de la suscripción anual era el siguiente: 24 pesos para México, 2 dólares norteamericanos para el resto de países de América y 10 nuevos francos para Europa. La empresa que imprimía la revista era Talleres de imprenta de la Editorial Bartomeu Costa-Amic, ubicada en Mesones 14, México D.F. Como corresponsal adminis trativo en Europa, aparece M. Fabra, cuya dirección en Francia era 22 rue Plumet de París. Poco después de la muerte de Progreso Alfarache (acaccida el 20 de febrero de 1964), el equipo cambió. A partir del n.° 8 (enero-febrero 1964), Fidel Miró comenzó a ejercer como director, Feliciano Subero como administrador y como redactores permanentes encontramos a Francisco Romero, Jerónimo García Gallego (antiguo sacerdote republicano exiliado en Cuba), Adolfo Hernández, Antonio Villanueva (Aznar Soler, 2006: 622) y a José Moreno Barrancos. La nueva dirección postal fue Independencia 67-601 de México D.F. y el precio aumentó a 25 pesos en México, permaneciendo invariable para el resto de países (Álvarez, 2017). Por último, otra cuestión de carácter formal que tener en cuenta era el nombre de la revista. De él merece la pena destacar el carácter ibérico de la publicación (Roca-mora Rocamora, 1989: 55-56). Alfarache afirmaba en el primer ejemplar que los dos pueblos, el español y el portugués, sufrían bajo dictaduras a las que había que derrocar en común... (shrink)

Selección de textos. El primer volumen esta dedicado a la filosofía en general y contiene escritos de varios filósofos europeos y, entre los latinoamericanos, Francisco Romero. El segundo contiene textos sobre la interpretación de América Latina. Sus autores: César Fernández Moreno, Augusto Tamayo Vargas, José Lezama Lima, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Lourdes Arizpe y Benjamín Carrión. En función de las tres preguntas del título, se supone que habría un tercer volumen, dedicado a la filosofía latinoamericana"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, (...) v. 58. (shrink)

This paper develops and benchmarks the Relational Zero State (RZS) framework as an action-free, graph-dynamical model for pre-geometric cosmology. The starting point is not a spacetime Lagrangian, but a weighted relational network (graph) and node fields updated by explicit rules constrained by a stability principle (“Romero Law”). A reproducible workflow (“Universe Factory”) is provided to generate synthetic universes on a laptop and to track phase-transition diagnostics such as component unification (percolation), global communication onset (spectral connectivity growth), and saturation (stability (...) plateaus). -/- A core requirement is low-redshift validation. Mechanisms intended to amplify early rare events must remain compatible with the established low- and intermediate-redshift large-scale-structure (LSS) phenomenology. To isolate the specific RZS statistical effect—symmetric heavy-tail amplification of rare peaks with minimal impact on the two-point sector—controlled surrogate tests are performed using BOSS DR12 LOWZ and CMASS power-spectrum targets (NGC/SGC) and multiple k-windows. Iterative amplitude-adjusted Fourier transform (IAAFT) surrogates hold the target two-point spectrum fixed by construction while varying only the one-point distribution. Across catalogs and parameter sweeps, the heavy-tail prescription keeps skewness consistent with zero, increases excess kurtosis, and boosts tail exceedance in the high-sigma regime, consistent with an even-order (trispectrum-like) signature rather than a two-point modification. -/- All scripts, figures, and summary tables are included for reproducibility and direct scrutiny. -/- . (shrink)

This paper presents the Romero Law of Relational Stability within the Relational Zero State (RZS) framework as a compact rule for comparing stability across complex systems. The law states that stability rises with effective update capacity (operational bandwidth) and falls with the combined burden of informational noise and latency. The manuscript provides clear, non-circular definitions for each term and a practical procedure for mapping them to measurable proxies in different domains, with the goal of keeping the law testable and (...) avoiding post-hoc reinterpretation. A computational verification is reported using mean-reverting stochastic dynamics under a controlled shock window that reduces capacity while increasing noise and delay, producing the expected collapse and recovery of the stability indicator. An algebraic consistency diagnostic confirms that the stability index is computed directly from the stated relationship, without hidden fitting. The result is an operational, falsifiable stability law intended to be adaptable across fields while preserving a single core structure. (shrink)

This work applies the Romero Law of Relational Stability to accreting black-hole X-ray binaries using a fully operational and replicable framework. A domain-specific dictionary maps effective capacity, informational noise, and latency onto standard spectral-timing observables, including power-colour ratios and reverberation time lags. Using published hard-state measurements for Cygnus X-1 and MAXI J1820+070, we compute both a relative stability index and a bounded stability index on a normalized scale. The manuscript provides explicit definitions, derived quantities, computed results, and a reproducible (...) numerical script, enabling independent verification and alternative proxy testing. The study emphasizes operational clarity, falsifiability, and cross-domain portability of the stability framework. (shrink)

Any proposal that modifies early rare-peak statistics must ultimately be tested against the established large-scale-structure record at low and intermediate redshift. This work presents an action-free formulation of the Relational Zero State (RZS) framework based on weighted graphs, node fields, and the Romero Law of Relational Stability. The construction starts from a pre-geometric system in which the weighted adjacency matrix and node fields evolve through explicit update rules designed to increase relational stability. In this setting, geometry is not assumed (...) at the fundamental level, but emerges as a large-scale limit of relational dynamics. The paper also introduces a concrete benchmarking strategy that links the framework to standard low-redshift observables. The analysis preserves the two-point sector, then searches for the leading signature in even-order statistics, and finally connects the model to BOSS/SDSS-style measurements and mocks. Controlled IAAFT surrogate tests show that a symmetric, variance-preserving heavy-tail prescription can increase kurtosis and rare-event exceedance rates while leaving the target two-point spectrum essentially unchanged. The result is a reproducible and testable framework that moves the RZS program from conceptual construction toward survey-level comparison. (shrink)

This paper presents a canonical closure of the Relational Zero State (RZS) framework. The framework is organized as a single explicit dynamical chain: a weighted relational graph and a node field define the microscopic state; a Romero-type stability functional governs rewiring; the graph Laplacian generates diffusion; the heat kernel converts connectivity into effective distance; the resulting coarse-grained metric yields an infrared cosmological sector; and the first distinctive observational departures appear in higher even-order statistics, rare peaks, halo abundances, and multi-probe (...) cosmology. An explicit microscopic jump law is stated so that a node can locally weaken one relation and reinforce another. The status of the characteristic exponent alpha approximately equal to 1.5 is clarified through a controlled selection argument rather than an overstated first-principles theorem. A laboratory-scale falsification route is also proposed in programmable photonic, superconducting, or analog graph platforms, where relational latency can be tuned directly and the network-to-metric map can be tested experimentally. Finally, a minimal interface to matter and gauge structure is outlined, with gauge fields treated as edge phases or holonomies and matter interpreted as protected graph defects or chiral excitations. The result is a single technical architecture in which definitions, dynamical rules, observables, and hard failure conditions are placed within one coherent theoretical framework. (shrink)

This paper formalizes the Relational Zero State (RZS) Law as a fundamental, pre-geometric organizational principle governing the stability of complex systems across scales. We propose that systemic stability is an emergent property defined by the inverse ratio of informational noise and response latency. Within this framework, spacetime is not a background manifold but a derivative of a "Relational Update Rate," where the universal constant c represents the network's maximum refresh frequency. We identify the scaling exponent alpha approx 1.5 as the (...) universal attractor for relational saturation, consistent with recent JWST observations of high-redshift galaxy populations. The RZS framework is applied to unify cosmological emergence, biological homeostasis, and the critical failure of macro-scale information networks. (shrink)

What if matter is not the first layer of reality, but a late form of relation that became stable enough to remain? -/- Before Matter introduces the Relational Zero State, or RZS, as a philosophical framework for thinking about reality before ready-made objects, classical space, ordinary time, and constituted matter. The article begins from a simple inversion: instead of asking what things existed at the beginning, it asks how anything could become stable, distinguishable, and resistant enough to be called a (...) thing. -/- RZS does not describe the universe as a biological organism, nor does it replace physics with metaphor. Its focus is more basic: the passage from a pre-structural condition to a universe capable of difference, relation, microjump, recurrence, weight, structural memory, boundary, geometry, matter, and complexity. In this view, the Zero State is not absolute nothingness, but a condition before stabilized form, where relational differentiation remains possible. -/- The article also introduces the Romero Law of Relational Stability: a system becomes more stable not by becoming rigid, but by increasing its capacity for update while reducing the dominance of noise, latency, and unresolved tension. From this principle, the text connects RZS with operational geometry, thermodynamics, cosmology, matter, mind, and psychopathology. -/- Written as an accessible entry point into the broader RZS program, Before Matter offers readers a conceptual map for approaching its more technical developments without losing sight of the central question: how can relations learn to remain? (shrink)

It is common in psychiatry and other sciences to describe an individual or a type of individual in terms of its disposition to manifest specific effects in a particular range of circumstances. According to one understanding, dispositions are statistical regularities of an individual or type of individual in specific circumstances. According to another understanding, dispositions are properties of individuals in virtue of which such regularities hold. This entry considers a number of ways of making each of these senses of disposition (...) more precise while discussing a number of dangers lurking in careless use of the concept of a disposition. (shrink)

The Right has a long history of questioning the importance of race analysis. Recently, the conceptual and political status of race has come under increased scrutiny from the Left. Bracketing the language of ‘race’ has meant that the discourse of skin groups remains at the level of abstraction and does not speak to real groups as such. As a descriptor, race essentializes identity as if skin color were a reliable way to perceive one's self and group as well as others, (...) and questions the viability of a social struggle based on race. In other words, race is not real and discourses that insist on its objective status are ensnared in reification. The response—equally from the Left—has been to reassert the centrality and changing dynamics of race in education and society. They argue that we need to develop more, rather than less, complex discourses on race. Orientations that attempt to discredit race analysis are therefore unable to dismantle the racial system because they refuse its significance as an autonomous system of interpellations. In other words, race is real. This essay appraises the debate within the Left about the status of race, their projections about the future of race, and the kind of struggle they promote in order to realize a society freed from the chains of racism. (shrink)

Western society today is less unified by a set of core values than ever before. Undoubtedly, the concept of moral consensus is a difficult one in a liberal, democratic and pluralistic society. But it is imperative to avoid a rigid majoritarianism where sensitive personal values are at stake, as in bioethics. Bioethics has become an influential part of public and professional discussions of health care. It has helped frame issues of moral values and medicine as part of a more general (...) effort to find consensus about some of the most perplexing questions of our time. But why is it thought that a moral consensus is important or that it deserves respect? How does moral consensus acquire legitimacy in a society that includes diverse value systems? How is moral consensus possible and how do small groups help create or distort consensus processes? Written by a medical school professor trained in philosophy, this timely work tackles these questions from philosophical, historical, and social scientific standpoints. It begins by describing the traditional ambivalence about consensus in Western culture as well as the uncertain relationship in modernity between consensus and expertise. After outlining the current bioethical consensus, the book gives philosophical and political analyses of the idea of consensus, then assesses the role of consensus in national ethics commissions and in the ethics committee movement. Moreno constructs an original, naturalistic philosophy of moral consensus, referred to as "bioethical naturalism", and then applies sociology and social psychology to actual consensus processes. The book concludes with an account of bioethics as a consensus-oriented social reform movement. This insightful volume will be essential reading for bioethicists, philosophers, physicians, members of ethics committees, and all those concerned with ethical and social issues in health care. (shrink)

Hermeneutics, or the science of interpretation,is well accepted in the humanities. In thefield of education, hermeneutics has played arelatively marginal role in research. It isthe task of this essay to introduce thegeneral methods and findings of Paul Ricoeur'shermeneutics. Specifically, the essayinterprets the usefulness of Ricoeur'sphilosophy in the study of domination. Theproblem of domination has been a target ofanalysis for critical pedagogy since itsinception. However, the role of interpretationas a constitutive part of ideology critique isrelatively understudied and it is here thatRicoeur's (...) ideas are instructive. Last, theessay radicalizes Ricoeur's insights in orderto realize their potential to disruptasymmetrical relations of power in education. To this extent, the author contributes to thebuilding of a critical brand of hermeneutics,or the interpretation of domination. (shrink)

The canonical closure of the Relational Zero State (RZS) framework fixed the formal ar-chitecture of the program: weighted relational microdynamics, Laplacian diffusion, heat-kernel distance, emergent geometry, an infrared cosmological sector, and an ordered observational sequence. The main open issues were calibration, admissibility, and controlled completion. This paper addresses those issues by introducing explicit criteria for geometric regime formation, a conservative infrared admissibility filter for the low-redshift bulk, and a controlled onset condition for the higher-order tail sector against complementary null ensembles. (...) It also states the Einstein-limit target in effective-action form, promotes matter and gauge structure from a minimal interface to a minimal backreaction ansatz inside the Romero stability balance, and implements a numerical proof-of-concept based on a mean-field Monte Carlo surrogate of the inherited jump law. The aim is operational: to determine when the inherited microdynamics may be coarse-grained as a viable geometric and cosmological sector, where it must be stopped, and what remains to be derived before stronger claims about gravity, matter, and survey-scale inference are justified. (shrink)

The experimental interventions that provide evidence of causal relations are notably similar to those that provide evidence of constitutive relevance relations. In the first two sections, I show that this similarity creates a tension: there is an inconsistent triad between Woodward’s popular interventionist theory of causation, Craver’s mutual manipulability account of constitutive relevance in mechanisms, and a variety of arguments for the incoherence of inter-level causation. I argue for an interpretation of the views in which the tension is merely apparent. (...) I propose to explain inter-level relations without inter-level causation by appealing to the notion of fat-handed interventions, and an argument against inter-level causation which dissolves the problem. (shrink)

This paper develops a conservative exploratory route within the Relational Zero State framework for assessing whether relational tension can support particle-like structures. The main result is negative in its first stage and constructive in its second. Pure relational tension, modeled through weighted graph dynamics and Laplacian modes, produces criticality, localization, and partial tensional mass, but it does not by itself generate mobile particle candidates; the resulting structures behave more like pinned defects. A viable route emerges only when the relational medium (...) is supplemented by compact phase, topological charge, and, in two dimensions, a gauge-like relational connection. In the one-dimensional sector, sine-Gordon-type topological kinks exhibit finite mass, conserved charge, mobility, interaction, internal modes, and transport under sufficient Romero stability. In the two-dimensional sector, global vortices fail as finite-mass isolated objects because their energy grows logarithmically with system size, while gauged vortices recover finite energy and static stability. Full two-dimensional dynamical mobility remains open. The paper does not claim a derivation of Standard Model particles. Its contribution is a falsifiable relational architecture for topological quasi-particles, together with explicit negative gates, normalization conventions, and reproducible computational criteria. (shrink)

I present a discussion of some issues in the ontology of spacetime. After a characterisation of the controversies among relationists, substantivalists, eternalists, and presentists, I offer a new argument for rejecting presentism, the doctrine that only present objects exist. Then, I outline and defend a form of spacetime realism that I call event substantivalism. I propose an ontological theory for the emergence of spacetime from more basic entities. Finally, I argue that a relational theory of pre-geometric entities can give rise (...) to substantival spacetime in such a way that relationism and substantivalism are not necessarily opposed positions, but rather complementary. In an appendix I give axiomatic formulations of my ontological views. (shrink)