Coronavirus and the Heterogenesis of Ends: Underpinning the Ecological and Health Catastrophe is a Political Crisis

The coronavirus catastrophe that we are experiencing is first of all the result of an ecological catastrophe, but its underlying fundamental cause is the political crisis that our democracies are living. The sustainable development model is a smokescreen that will lead not to making deepgoing changes to the economic paradigm but to continuing with business as usual. The betrayal of the elites, both political and economic, supported by a system that is no longer democratic, has exposed the population to this type of sanitary problem. A deep transformation of our political system is urgently needed. The people must take part in a true democracy, a direct democracy, that initiates a new democratic revolution capable of countering the sinister interests of the elites, of the caste in power

Epilogue: The Epistemic and Practical Circle in an Evolutionary, Ecologically Sustainable Society

Abstract In a context of human demographic, technological and economic pressure on natural systems, we face some demanding challenges. We must decide 1) whether to “preserve” nature for its own sake or to “conserve” nature because nature is essentially a reservoir of goods that are functional to humanity’s wellbeing; 2) to choose ways of life that respect the biodiversity and evolutionary potential of the planet; and, to allow all this to come to fruition, 3) to clearly define the role of scientific expertise in a democratic society, recognizing the importance of biospheric equilibrium. In fact, in socio-scientific controversies, which are characterized by complex linkages between some life and environmental sciences objects and economic, political and ethical issues, a posture of transparent, impartial commitment is appearing, more and more, as a deontological necessity

Les sciences impliquées entre objectivité épistémique et impartialité engagée

Partout des appels formels invoquant la démocratie sont lancés : la démocratie comme première condition requise pour une gouvernance politique respectueuse des intérêts des citoyens et des équilibres de l’environnement. En même temps, une multitude d’indices convergents configurent une gestion de la res publica par une caste oligarchique politico-économique dont la propension à gérer les ressources environnementales se caractérise par l’absence de prise en compte du bien commun sur la base d’intérêts particuliers sans tenir compte des équilibres biosphériques (Bergandi, 2014 : 63-81). Quel est le rôle des sciences et des scientifiques dans un tel contexte? Ou plus précisément, quel est le rôle des sciences et des scientifiques dans des questions à l’interface entre science et société, générant des controverses socio-scientifiques? Jusqu’à quel point les sciences peuvent-elles encore effectivement incarner l’idéal de la neutralité axiologique, durablement implanté par le positivisme à partir du XIXe siècle à la fois dans l’éthique scientifique et dans l’inconscient des scientifiques, telle une constante, apparemment inéliminable, de la science? Est-il possible de trouver un juste équilibre (épistémique et éthique) entre objectivité scientifique d’un côté, engagement moral et politique de l’autre? L’idée de « sciences impliquées » est-elle une forme de pensée oxymorique cachant un non-sens épistémologique? Ou bien, exprime-t-elle un besoin, une nécessité à la fois épistémique, éthique et politique qui nous permettrait de mieux cerner les innombrables et complexes enchevêtrements entre les sciences contemporaines et la société?

Eco-cybernetics: the ecology and cybernetics of missing emergences

Considers that in ecosystem, landscape and global ecology, an energetics reading of ecological systems is an expression of a cybernetic, systemic and holistic approach. In ecosystem ecology, the Odumian paradigm emphasizes the concept of emergence, but it has not been accompanied by the creation of a method that fully respects the complexity of the objects studied. In landscape ecology, although the emergentist, multi-level, triadic methodology of J.K. Feibleman and D.T. Campbell has gained acceptance, the importance of emergent properties is still undervalued. In global ecology, the Gaia hypothesis is an expression of an organicist metaphor, while the emergentist terminology used is incongruent with the underlying physicalist cybernetics. More generally, an analytico-additional methodology and the reduction of the properties of ecosystems to the laws of physical chemistry render purely formal any assertion about the emergentist and holistic nature of the ecological systems studied

Instruction and Entertainment: Chaucer\u27s Nun\u27s Priest\u27s Tale

The Nun\u27s Priest\u27s Tale is one of the most entertaining stories in Chaucer\u27s Canterbury Tales--it is captivating, witty, and amusing--but it is also one of the most instructive in the entire collection. In fact, the Nun\u27s Priest himself emphasizes the instructional purpose of his tale by telling his listeners Taketh the moralite, goode men (NPT 3440), advising them to look for the points he makes in his narration. Although the Nun\u27s Priest never explicitly states the moralite of his tale, many scholars have taken his advice seriously and searched for its instruction on their own. Approaching it from a different angles, they have generated a multitude of interpretations and have emphasized various morals that can be found in the tale. The problem, however, is that none of the single interpretations we can give to the tale, and none of the morals we can draw from it, is satisfactory alone. This circumstance suggests that we might have to accept the multiplicity of interpretations and morals as part of the Nun\u27s Priest\u27s instruction. This thesis explores the three ways in which Chaucer enhances not just the entertainment, but especially the instructional value of the Nun\u27s Priest\u27s Tale, encouraging readers to search for its meaning, by looking at it from various angles. Chaucer introduces important structural changes that take the focus away from the foolish cock and the fable moral, turning instead to life in the hen-yard, the cock\u27s dream, and the chicken-debate, which he uses to tell us something about human nature. Furthermore, he introduces material from other sources into his tale, and interrupts it with comments about fiction, thus heightening our awareness of its fictitious character and stimulating in us an active search for meaning. He also introduces many themes that appear in other tales, and various morals and sententiae, forcing us as readers to evaluate one aginst the other, if we want to gain a deeper understanding of the tale

Environnement, éthique et politique : les limites d’une démocratie inaboutie et leurs conséquences néfastes sur la protection de la nature

Environmental public policies are suffering the harmful effects of a tacit agreement between political and economical elites. Heedless of philosophical-political references, an international politico-economical oligarchic caste is largely united around dealing with environmental issues based on the sustainable development model, which is an expression of a utilitarian, anthropocentric perspective. Moreover, for this model biodiversity is in the main merely a reservoir of natural resources for human use. A dual transition – both ethical and political – is thus urgently needed to preserve the integrity of natural systems and support the development of truly human societies

Les métamorphoses de l'organicisme en écologie: De la communauté végétale aux écosystèmes/The metamorphoses of organicism in ecology: From plant community to ecosystems

SUMMARY. — From 1905 to 1935, practitioners of pre-energetics ecology sought to clarify their field of study. One after another, basic units of ecology, such as plant formation, plant association, climax, biome, biotic community and the ecosystem, came to the fore and eclipsed other contenders. Between 1920 and 1930, the organicist philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, along with the evolutionary perspective of Herbert Spencer and the emergentist theories of Samuel Alexander and Conwy L. Morgan laid a solid foundation for the epistemological debate over the basic units of ecology. Authors like Frederic E. Clements and John Phillips advanced a variety of forms of ecological organicism, while Henry A. Gleason viewed plant association as the result of a fortuitous juxtaposition of individual entities. Ultimately, and paradoxically, Arthur G. Tansley 's ecosystem, although originally part of the anti-organicist viewpoint, became the basic unit of research programmes that sought, or at least intended to develop, an emergentist perspective.RÉSUMÉ. — L'écologie préénergétique des années 1905-1935 est à la recherche de ses objets d'étude. Des unités fondamentales de la nature (telles que formation végétale, association végétale, climax, biome, communauté biotique, écosystème) se trouvent en compétition et se succèdent les unes aux autres. Autour des années 1920 et 1930, la philosophie organiciste d'Alfred N. Whitehead, ainsi que la perspective évolutionniste d'Herbert Spencer et les propositions émergentistes de Samuel Alexander et Conwy L. Morgan, deviennent des références sous-jacentes au débat épistémologique concernant les unités de base de l'écologie. Des auteurs comme Frederic E. Clements et John Phillips soutiendront plusieurs formes d'organicisme écologique, tandis que Henry A. Gleason interprétera l'association végétale comme le résultat d'une juxtaposition fortuite d'individus. Enfin, et paradoxalement, l'écosystème de Arthur G. Tansley, tout en faisant partie, à l'origine, d'une perspective anti-organiciste, deviendra l'unité fondamentale de programmes de recherche qui se voudront, au moins dans leurs intentions, émergentistes.Bergandi Donato. Les métamorphoses de l'organicisme en écologie : De la communauté végétale aux écosystèmes/The metamorphoses of organicism in ecology: From plant community to ecosystems. In: Revue d'histoire des sciences, tome 52, n°1, 1999. pp. 5-32

Gestión en tiempo real de indicadores de calidad de los servicios de telefonía: factibilidad y conveniencia para el organismo de control (ENACOM)

El objetivo del Trabajo Final es evaluar la factibilidad y conveniencia, para Enacom, de implementar un sistema innovador de gestión en tiempo real de indicadores de calidad para telefonía. Se prevé mejorar significativamente la gestión relacionada con la calidad de servicio ofrecida por las empresas y la satisfacción de los usuarios.Fil: Bergandi, Sergio David. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencias de la Administración; Argentin