Materialism Today

Materialism is a family of ontofogies, or exfreme/y general doctrines about the world. What all the members of that family have in common is the thesis that everything that exists really is material — or, stated negatively, that immaterial objects such as ideas have no existence independent of material things such as brains. Aside from this common core, materialist ontologies may differ widely. It is only by adding further requirements that a definite materialist ontology will be individuated or built. We choose two: exactness and consistency with contemporary science. Let us peek at these conditions

Criticism. Destructive and Constructive

In the scientific communities most criticisms are constructive, while they are destructive in the humanistic circles. Indeed, scientists circulate their drafts among colleagues and students, hoping to elicit their comments and suggestions before submitting their work to publication. In contrast, philosophers and political thinkers attack their rivals, without sparing arguments ad hominem or even insults. The reason for this difference is that scientists are after the truth, whereas most humanists fight for more or less noble causes, from swelling their own curricula to joining crusades for or against rationality, realism, justice, or what have you

El efecto San Mateo

El autor recoge el versículo 13 del capítulo 19 del Evangelio atribuido a San Mateo reza así : "porque a cualquiera que tiene, le será dado, y tendrá más; pero al que no tiene, aún lo que tiene le será quitado", y lo vincula a la sociología de la ciencia, para a través del "efecto San Mateo" -los investigadores científicos eminentes cosechan aplausos mucho más nutridos, que otros investigadores, menos conocidos, por contribuciones equivalentes- exponer la estratificación social de las comunidades científicas.L’auteur reprend le verset 13 du chapitre 19 de l’Evangile attribué à Saint Mathieu dont voici la prière: “car à celui qui possède, il lui sera donné, et il possèdera davantage; mais à celui qui ne possède rien, même ce qu’il possède lui sera confisqué”, et l’associe à la sociologie de la science, pour, à travers de l’ “effet Saint Mathieu” – les chercheurs scientifiques éminents récoltes des ovations beaucoup plus considérables que d’autres chercheurs, moins reconnus, pour des contributions équivalentes – exposer la stratification sociale des communautés scientifiques.The author refers to the verse 13 of chapter 19 of the Gospel attributed to Matthew, which reads: "because whoever has, more will be given to him, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, even what he has will be taken", and links this to the sociology of science, stating the "Matthew effect"-eminent scientific researchers reap much more nourished applause, than other researchers, less known, for equivalent contributions- for exposing the social stratification of scientific communities

El socialismo como democracia integral

Conferencia impartida el 28 de abril de 2014 en el Salón de Grados de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Alcalá, con motivo de la visita del autor invitado por el Programa Regional de Apoyo a las Defensorías del Pueblo de Iberoamérica (PRADPI

El efecto San Mateo

El autor recoge el versículo 13 del capítulo 19 del Evangelio atribuido a San Mateo reza así : "porque a cualquiera que tiene, le será dado, y tendrá más; pero al que no tiene, aún lo que tiene le será quitado", y lo vincula a la sociología de la ciencia, para a través del "efecto San Mateo" -los investigadores científicos eminentes cosechan aplausos mucho más nutridos, que otros investigadores, menos conocidos, por contribuciones equivalentes- exponer la estratificación social de las comunidades científicas.L’auteur reprend le verset 13 du chapitre 19 de l’Evangile attribué à Saint Mathieu dont voici la prière: “car à celui qui possède, il lui sera donné, et il possèdera davantage; mais à celui qui ne possède rien, même ce qu’il possède lui sera confisqué”, et l’associe à la sociologie de la science, pour, à travers de l’ “effet Saint Mathieu” – les chercheurs scientifiques éminents récoltes des ovations beaucoup plus considérables que d’autres chercheurs, moins reconnus, pour des contributions équivalentes – exposer la stratification sociale des communautés scientifiques.The author refers to the verse 13 of chapter 19 of the Gospel attributed to Matthew, which reads: "because whoever has, more will be given to him, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, even what he has will be taken", and links this to the sociology of science, stating the "Matthew effect"-eminent scientific researchers reap much more nourished applause, than other researchers, less known, for equivalent contributions- for exposing the social stratification of scientific communities

O Realismo Científico de Mario Bunge

Mario Bunge nasceu em Buenos Aires, em 21 de setembro de 1919. Realizou seus estudos na Universidade Nacional de la Plata, obtendo seu doutorado em ciências físico-matemáticas em 1952. Foi professor de Física Teórica e Filosofia em Buenos Aires, entre 1956 a 1966. Em seguida, tornou-se professor de Lógica e Metafísica na Universidade McGill, em Montreal, onde trabalha desde 1966. Bunge recebeu vinte e quatro doutorados Honoris Causa, sendo membro da American Association for the Advancement of Science (desde 1984) e da Royal Society of Canadá (desde 1992). Em 1982, Bunge foi premiado com o Prêmio Príncipe das Astúrias, em 2009 com a bolsa Guggenheim e, em 2014, com o prêmio Ludwig Von Bertalanffy em Complexity Thinking. É autor de dezenas de livros, entre os quais estão Metascientific Queries (Charles C. Thomas, 1959); Intuition and Science (Prentice-Hall, 1962; Greenwood Press, 1975); The Myth of Simplicity. (Prentice-Hall, 1963). Scientific Research, 2 volumes (Springer, 1967); Foundations of Physics (Springer, 1967); Philosophy of Science: From Problem to Theory, Vol. 1 (Transaction Publishers, 1998); Philosophy of Science: From Explanation to Justification, Vol. 2(Transaction Publishers, 1998); Scientific Realism: Selected Essays by Mario Bunge. Ed. Martin Mahner (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2001); El problema mente – cerebro (Madrid: Tecnos, 2002); Emergence and Convergence (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003), entre outros