A study about the universals in Ideas I

The problem of universals remains a philosophical theme not only in ontology but also in epistemology. In Husserl, there are particular universals, the noematic ‘X’, the identical, and universals stricto sensu, atemporal universal names. In this paper, I present the theme as it is analyzed by Husserl in Ideas I. In the first section, I describe the trajectory to the universals highlighting the parallelism between noese and noema. In the second section, I draw the reflection of this problem on the philosophy of language which is also affected by the noeticnoematic correspondence. In the third and last section, I show how the investigation about the universals moves in the noematic sphere, and conclude defending the possibility of reaching the universal strict sense departing from the noematic ‘X’

Husserl and Reinach, the idea of promise

In this paper, I discuss the possibility of reading the description of promise presented by Reinach in The Apriori Foundations of the Civil Law under the light of Husserl’s Ideas I. In order to present my argument, first, I briefly present the phenomenological method proposed by Husserl in Ideas I highlighting eidetic reduction. Second, I present the Reinachian description of social acts emphasizing the act of promising. Third, and finally, I try to demonstrate that the Reinachian description of the social act of promising is the description of a universal and necessary relation, a synthetic and a priori statement and corresponds to the idea of promise

The constitution of objectivities in consciousness in Ideas I and Ideas II

In this paper, I present the difficulty in the phenomenology of explaining the constitution of objectivities in consciousness. In the context of phenomenological reduction, constitution has to be understood as unveiling the universal and necessary essences. Recognized by Husserl in Ideas I and named as functional problems, the constitution of objectivities refers at first to individual consciousness, and then to an intersubjective one. In Ideas II, the phenomenologist explains how the constitution of nature, psyche, and spirit occurs. This process begins by assuming three premises: the ontological realism, the regularity of nature, and the transcendental idealism. In this process, the ego, apart from constituting objects (the body, the psyche, and the others), constitutes itself. The objects of material reality are constituted through aesthetic synthesis which unifies singularities and contextualizes the lived experience. The body, as a perceptive organ, perceives the exterior, and the location of the sensory stimulus is the soul. The soul is a real and transcendent object, which is linked to physical things that are constituted in a solipsistic way or intersubjectively. Empathy allows the subject to recognize the consciousness of the alter ego as capable of spontaneous movements and actions, a co-presence sharing the same horizons. Thus, through the theoretical attitude, the physical world is perceived, and through the spiritual attitude the spiritual world is perceived, a living world shared by free intelligent beings. For this, intersubjectivity fulfills a fundamental role, because only in the relationship with the other does the identity of the objects, of the other, and of the self become evident

Schelerian Fundamentals of Logotherapy

Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy is based on Max Scheler’s theory of values and anthropology. Frankl builds his psychological thinking based on critical concepts of Schelerian thinking such as (i) value and goods, (ii) will and feelings, (iii) the hierarchy of values, and (iv) the idea of person. It is with them that he develops his original theses of (i) the spiritual motivation of human action, (ii) the search for meaning and (iii) the spiritual unconscious. In doing so, he offered not only a psychotherapy of values, but also a new theory of positive human motivation, not conceived as a result of deficiency or need, but as a result of the free spirit toward objective values. The human search for meaning in life can only be successful by living and realizing superior values, in the hierarchical sense proposed by Scheler

Trabajo y consumo. Una nueva oportunidad para el capitalismo resultante de la pandemia COVID-19

The article presents a philosophical discussion about how the economic restructuring after the COVID-19 recession is based on two main factors: labour precariousness and consumption stimulation. From a review of data and literature about global economic growth and incomes from big companies like Amazon, it is possible to suggest that capitalism is facing a decline yet not a structural crisis. Nonetheless, labour after the outbreak is damaged by the application of flexibilization and informality – particularly telecommuting and immaterial labour – as seen in countries like Ecuador, Italy, India, and United States. Also, companies and governments are calling for a boost of consumption to save the economy based on fiscal policies, consumerism, and a ‘cleaning’ of consumption. In conclusion, a theoretical alternative is a microphysics of struggle understood as a politicization of the private space and a re-definition of labour as a material activity that requires better conditions for workers.  El artículo presenta una discusión filosófica sobre cómo la restructuración económica, posterior a la recesión por el COVID-19, se basa en dos aspectos principales: precarización del trabajo y la estimulación del consumo. A partir de una revisión de data y literatura sobre el crecimiento económico global y sobre los ingresos de grandes compañías como Amazon, es posible sugerir que el capitalismo está enfrentando una caída más no una crisis estructural. Sin embargo, el trabajo después del rebrote masivo se ha visto afectado por la aplicación de la flexibilización y la informalidad – particularmente del teletrabajo y el trabajo inmaterial – como se ha visto en países como Ecuador, Italia, India y Estados Unidos. Así mismo, compañías y gobiernos recurren a incentivar el consumo para salvar la economía basados en políticas fiscales, consumismo y una ‘limpieza’ del consumo. En conclusión, una alternativa teórica es una microfísica de la resistencia, entendida como la politización del espacio privado y como una redefinición del trabajo como una actividad material que requiere mejores condiciones para sus trabajadores

Fundamentos Schelerianos da Logoterapia

Resumo: A Logoterapia proposta por Viktor Frankl está fundamentada na teoria dos valores e antropologia de Max Scheler. Frankl constrói seu pensamento psicológico baseado em conceitos-chave do pensamento scheleriano como (i) o valor e os bens, (ii) o querer e os sentimentos, (iii) a hierarquia de valores e (iv) a ideia de pessoa. É com eles que desenvolve suas teses originais da (i) motivação espiritual da ação humana, (ii) busca de sentido e (iii) inconsciente espiritual. Ao fazê-lo, ofereceu não só uma psicoterapia dos valores, mas também uma nova teoria da motivação humana positiva, não concebida como fruto de deficiência ou necessidade, mas do espírito livre direcionado a valores objetivos. A busca humana por sentido na vida só é possível ser bem-sucedida com a vivência e realização de valores superiores, no sentido hierárquico proposto por Scheler

Variables related to sexual prejudice among Mexican health science students

The stigmatization and discrimination of non-heterosexual persons is a reality in some institutions of the Health Services, and among health sciences students. Objectives: To describe and predict the level of sexual prejudice in health sciences students, taking into account a set of qualitative and numerical variables on socio-demographic data, sexual life, social life, university (private or public) the student’s major (medicine or psychology), and clinical aspects. Methodology: A socio-demographic and life-history data questionnaire, an 8-item homophobia scale and a 16-item internalized homonegativity scale were applied to a non-probabilistic sample composed of 231 health sciences students. The predictive models were estimated by analyses of multinomial and ordinal regression. Results: Twelve percent of participants exhibited an attitude of open rejection towards nonheterosexual persons (including 0.9% who exhibited extreme rejection). Non-heterosexual orientation, having non-heterosexual friends and acceptance of one’s own homosexual desires were variables associated with lower levels of open rejection towards non-heterosexual persons. Only the two latter variables were significant predictive variables; they explained 21% of the variance in the ordinal regression model and 27% in the multinomial regression model. The percentage of the correct classification of cases of acceptance was high but the percentage of the correct classification of cases of rejection was low. Conclusion: The level of open rejection towards non-heterosexual persons is low. An exclusively heterosexual identity, affirming not to share aspects of the sexual sphere and not having personal contact with the stigmatized subject are determinants of open rejection. There exist other variables that were not taken into account in this study, as is deduced by the high percentage of unexplained varianc

Cosmopolítica indígena en los Andes: reflexiones conceptuales más allá de la «política»

En América Latina la política indígena ha sido calificada como “política étnica”. Su activismo es interpretado como una búsqueda para hacer prevalecer los derechos culturales. Sin embargo, ¿qué pasa si la “cultura” es insuficiente, incluso inadecuada como noción, para pensar el desafío que representa la política indígena? Este ensayo se inspira en recientes acontecimientos políticos en Perú —y, en menor medida, en Ecuador y Bolivia—, donde el movimiento indígena-popular ha invocado entidades sensibles (montañas, agua y suelo, lo que llamamos “naturaleza”) en la arena política pública. Su argumento es triple. Primero, la indigeneidad, como formación histórica, excede la noción de política “como de costumbre”, es decir, un espacio poblado por seres humanos racionales que disputan al Estado el poder de representar a otros. Segundo, el actual surgimiento político de la indigeneidad —en los movimientos antimineros en Perú y Ecuador, pero también en eventos de celebración en Bolivia— desafía la separación entre naturaleza y cultura que sustenta la noción predominante de la política y su correspondiente contrato social. Tercero, más allá de la “política étnica” los movimientos indígenas actuales proponen una práctica política diferente, plural no por su promulgación por organismos marcados por género, raza, etnia o sexualidad (como sostendría el multiculturalismo), sino porque invoca no humanos como actores en la arena política

En el mundo de la vida con los otros en comunidad

Resumen: Husserl propone una teoría sobre la intersubjetividad que parte de la conciencia trascendental como inserta en el mundo de la vida donde están los otros y donde la comunidad se construye bajo una estructura de esencias que garantiza la comunalidad. El mundo de la vida es dado y compartido por todas las conciencias intencionales y trascendentales, es condición para intuiciones empíricas y eidéticas, la epoché y las reducciones eidética y trascendental. Cada momento del método fenomenológico se basa en la existencia de un mundo de la vida independiente de la subjetividad. En este mundo, hay objetos reales y, entre estos, los otros, reconocidos por analogía a través de la empatía. Desde una perspectiva metodológico-epistemológico, el yo es anterior al mundo y a los otros yos. El yo constituye, en sentido fenomenológico, la realidad. La conciencia es el lugar de evidenciación de la realidad. No obstante, en la perspectiva ontológica, es lo contrario. El mundo de la vida es anterior a la conciencia individual. El mundo de la vida está ahí, disponible, existente, independiente del sujeto, funcionando con su propio orden, con sus leyes y reglas. Es el yo el que esta insertado en el mundo de la vida y que se esfuerza por desvendarlo. La realidad se impone y el yo es, sobre todo, miembro de una comunidad de otros yos. Aun así, ¿cómo compartir las experiencias? Las vivencias pueden ser diferentes, pero hay un límite en las variaciones, un límite dado por la esencia del objeto vivido y por las leyes que rigen las relaciones de tal objeto. Así, la constitución del mundo y de sus objetos está permanentemente en progreso. Es posible donarles nuevos sentidos, en los límites de su esencia. Para Husserl, la constitución comunal del mundo es la condición de posibilidad para la existencia de sujetos separados unos de los otros, y este entendimiento recíproco solo es posible a través de la constitución trascendental de la objetividad. Así, no hay una separación entre la intersubjetividad y la constitución del mundo, es la comunidad de yos la que dona sentidos a las objetividades. En el mundo de la vida con los otros en comunidad. Abstract: Husserl proposes a theory on intersubjectivity that starts from transcendental consciousness as inserted in the lifeworld where the others and where the community are built under a structure of essences that guarantees communality. The lifeworld is given and shared by all intentional and transcendental consciousnesses, it is a condition for empirical and eidetic intuitions, the epoché and the eidetic and transcendental reductions. Every moment of the phenomenological method is based on the existence of a lifeworld independent of subjectivity. In this world, there are real objects and, among these, the others, recognized by analogy through empathy. From a methodologicalepistemological perspective, the self is prior to the world and the other selves. The self constitutes, in a phenomenological sense, reality. Consciousness is the locus of evidence of reality. However, from the ontological perspective, it is the opposite. The lifeworld is prior to individual consciousness. The lifeworld is there, available, existing, independent of subjectivity, functioning with its own order, with its laws and rules. It is the self that is inserted in the lifeworld and that strives to unveil it. Reality prevails and the self is, above all, a member of a community of other selves. Even so, how to share the experiences? The experiences can be different, but there is a limit in variations, a limit given by the essence of the lived object and by the laws that govern the relation of the object. Thus, the constitution of the world and its objects is permanently in progress. It is possible to give them new meanings, within the limits of their essence. For Husserl, the communal constitution of the world is the condition of possibility for the existence of subjects separated from each other, and this reciprocal understanding is only possible through the transcendental constitution of objectivity. therefore, there is no separation between intersubjectivity and the constitution of the world, it is the community of selves that gives meaning to objectivities

Phenomenology and Human Rights

In this article I present the phenomenological tradition as a new grounding for human rights as universal rights. The hypothesis defended is to conciliate Husserl’s phenomenological method and Reinach’s a priori law in order to offer a new grounding to human rights. In order to combine Husserl and Reinach’s ideas, I propose to expand the comprehension of a priori. It would be present as eidos of each object and I name it as material a priori; it also be present in the eidetic relations and I name it as formal a priori. Yet the object would have an essence, a necessary content, a material a priori, and necessary states of affairs, necessary relations and connections, a formal a priori. Reinach, in The A priori Foundations of the Civil Law, describes eidetic relations, such as, the relation between promise, claim and obligation. I propose three eidetic universalities to ground law, these are what I will call human rights. I also face a few difficulties presented by DuBois and De Vecchi derived from the amoral approach of a priori laws. Then, I highlight the difference between this proposition and Albert’s. Finally, I defend the proposition that a priori laws are beyond natural and positive laws