Introduction: On the Challenges of Intergenerational Justice and Climate Change

This introduction aims to describe some fundamental problems of intergenerational justice and climate change. It also intends to provide comments on improved versions of some of the best papers presented in the International Meeting “Intergenerational Justice and Climate Change: juridical, moral and political issues” that took place at Cordoba National University (Argentina), in September 2017. In that meeting, the discussion focused on these topics by considering the ideas of the two keynote speakers invited to the event: Lukas H. Meyer and Alessandro Pinzani. I devote the last part of this essay to discuss two pressing issues concerning climate change whose practical solutions challenge our standard understanding of the notion of harm. I discuss, on the one hand, certain issues related with the non-identity problem. On the other hand, I try to identify what kind of obligation do we have when we talk about minimizing the number of people who will suffer harm as a result of the adverse effects of climate chang

Revista "Idea Latina": una mirada a la traducción cultural en los espacios de la diversidad

This study of Idea Latina, a magazine published in Argentina in the 1920's, will allow us to approach the issue of cultural translation as a tool for social integration. Starting from the analysis of literature in translation from the perspective of reception theory and of the conflicts that arose between Italian, its dialects, and Spanish, we analyze the position of the magazine in relation to the source (Italian) culture and the target (Argentine) culture. Published within the framework of a fervent cultural nationalism, Idea Latina helps us to understand the way in which a group of Italian intellectuals thought out the construction of Argentine identity

Influence of the nonlinearity parameter on the solar-wind sub-ion magnetic energy spectrum: FLR-Landau fluid simulations

The cascade of kinetic Alfv\'en waves (KAWs) at the sub-ion scales in the solar wind is numerically simulated using a fluid approach that retains ion and electron Landau damping, together with ion finite Larmor radius corrections. Assuming initially equal and isotropic ion and electron temperatures, and an ion beta equal to unity, different simulations are performed by varying the propagation direction and the amplitude of KAWs that are randomly driven at a transverse scale of about one fifth of the proton gyroradius in order to maintain a prescribed level of turbulent fluctuations. The resulting turbulent regimes are characterized by the nonlinearity parameter, defined as the ratio of the characteristic times of Alfv\'en wave propagation and of the transverse nonlinear dynamics. The corresponding transverse magnetic energy spectra display power laws with exponents spanning a range of values consistent with spacecraft observations. The meandering of the magnetic field lines together with the ion temperature homogenization along these lines are shown to be related to the strength of the turbulence, measured by the nonlinearity parameter. The results are interpreted in terms of a recently proposed phenomenological model where the homogenization process along field lines induced by Landau damping plays a central role

Gyro-induced acceleration of magnetic reconnection

The linear and nonlinear evolution of magnetic reconnection in collisionless high-temperature plasmas with a strong guide field is analyzed on the basis of a two-dimensional gyrofluid model. The linear growth rate of the reconnecting instability is compared to analytical calculations over the whole spectrum of linearly unstable wave numbers. In the strongly unstable regime (large \Delta '), the nonlinear evolution of the reconnecting instability is found to undergo two distinctive acceleration phases separated by a stall phase in which the instantaneous growth rate decreases. The first acceleration phase is caused by the formation of strong electric fields close to the X-point due to ion gyration, while the second acceleration phase is driven by the development of an open Petschek-like configuration due to both ion and electron temperature effects. Furthermore, the maximum instantaneous growth rate is found to increase dramatically over its linear value for decreasing diffusion layers. This is a consequence of the fact that the peak instantaneous growth rate becomes weakly dependent on the microscopic plasma parameters if the diffusion region thickness is sufficiently smaller than the equilibrium magnetic field scale length. When this condition is satisfied, the peak reconnection rate asymptotes to a constant value.Comment: Accepted for publication on Physics of Plasma

El problema de la no identidad. Cuatro soluciones posibles

El artículo defiende una solución al problema de la no identidad, que surge porque la existencia de muchas personas futuras es contingente en relación con nuestras decisiones. Esto hace que, aunque tengan una calidad de vida muy baja, tal situación no sea peor para ellas. Se defiende una solución basada en una noción de umbral de daño: tal noción ayuda a explicar la incorrección que existe en los casos atravesados por el problema de la no identidad. Finalmente, se analizan otras tres soluciones. Sin embargo, se afirma que no son completamente satisfactorias sin un desarrollo ulterior.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The article defends a solution to non-identity problem, which arises because the existence of many future persons is contingent with respect to our decisions. Consequently, despite their possible low quality of life, that situation is not worse for them. The article argues for a solution based on the threshold notion of harm, which helps in explaining the wrongness involved in those cases crossed by the non-identity problem. Finally, it analyzes three other solutions. However, it is argued that they are not entirely satisfactory without further developments

Delitos Acumulativos Ambientales: una aproximación desde el republicanismo

La censura penal en los estados liberales de derecho se ha justificado históricamente desde el concepto de bien jurídico y desde principio del daño, conforme la tradición sea alemana o anglosajona, respectivamente. Sin embargo, en las últimas décadas se observa que tales criterios no pueden hacer frente a nuevos problemas que presentan las sociedades modernas. Tal es el caso de las tipificaciones en forma de delitos acumulativos, es decir conductas que en sí mismas acarrean consecuencias lesivas muy pequeñas, pero que sumadas a otras de igual naturaleza pueden producir graves afectaciones. La literatura ha proporcionado un profuso debate sobre este tema. Aquí se intentará proponer una construcción plausible que sea capaz de justificar esta clasede prohibiciones. Para ello se parte del modelo republicano, que adopta como ideal de libertad, la no dominación. Toda vez que al ser posible la inexistencia de interferencias pero que, sin embargo, una persona vea restringida su libertad por encontrarse bajo el poder de otro (dominio), la idea de “libertad como no dominación” parece más satisfactoria para garantizar buenas condiciones de vida a los sujetos. Se ensayarán dos respuestas, una que considera que la razón de la prohibición se encuentra en el efecto que cada acto produce junto a los demás; y otra, que sólo repara en las consecuencias del acto individual

El peso de los daños: estados de daño y razones para no dañar

In this paper I intend to analyse the meaning of harm as well as the strength of the reasons against harming provided by harm-states. I will argue that there are two kinds of harms: absolute harms and relative harms. Also, I will argue that when certain harm has been completely covered by considering such harm as absolute, the consideration of such harm as –also– relative is displaced. Such considerations should be taken into account when the suffered harms cannot be entirely explained by considerations regarding absolute harms. If these claims are right, we will have guidelines to measure, among other things, the agent´s moral responsibility in different kind of cases. En este trabajo me propongo analizar tanto qué significa sufrir un daño como la fuerza de las razones en contra de dañar que se derivan de los estados de daño. Argumentaré que existen distintos tipos de daño: absolutos y relativos, y que los primeros son cualitativamente más graves que los segundos. Argumentaré también que, si los daños sufridos pueden ser explicados enteramente en términos de daños absolutos, las consideraciones referidas a los daños relativos no deben entrar en juego. Tales consideraciones sólo deben ser tenidas en cuenta cuando los daños sufridos no puedan ser explicados enteramente en términos de daños absolutos. Si estas afirmaciones son correctas, contaremos con lineamientos que pueden servir de guía para, entre otras cosas, graduar la responsabilidad de los agentes en diferente clase de caso