Diálogo sobre el Dios escondido. La búsqueda de Dios

EL OPÚSCULO DIÁLOGO SOBRE EL DIOS ESCONDIDO El breve, y también maravilloso, escrito Diálogo sobre el Dios escondido (también denominado a veces con el nombre entero del Diálogo de un gentil y un cristiano sobre el Dios escondido) fue redactado por Nicolás de Cusa entre 1440 y 1445; se sitúa entre esas fechas, porque se sabe que es posterior a La docta ignorancia y previo a La búsqueda de Dios; suele considerarse que es el primer diálogo que escribió el Cusano1 da seguridad, es también posterior a Las conjeturas, si bien este último libro parece ser que fue redactado previamente y publicado con posterioridad (entre 1442 y 1445

Among-individual diet variation within a lake trout ecotype: lack of stability of niche use

In a polyphenic species, differences in resource use are expected among ecotypes, and homogeneity in resource use is expected within an ecotype. Yet, using a broad resource spectrum has been identified as a strategy for fishes living in unproductive northern environments, where food is patchily distributed and ephemeral. We investigated whether specialization of trophic resources by individuals occurred within the generalist piscivore ecotype of lake trout from Great Bear Lake, Canada, reflective of a form of diversity. Four distinct dietary patterns of resource use within this lake trout ecotype were detected from fatty acid composition, with some variation linked to spatial patterns within Great Bear Lake. Feeding habits of different groups within the ecotype were not associated with detectable morphological or genetic differentiation, suggesting that behavioral plasticity caused the trophic differences. A low level of genetic differentiation was detected between exceptionally large‐sized individuals and other piscivore individuals. We demonstrated that individual trophic specialization can occur within an ecotype inhabiting a geologically young system (8,000–10,000 yr BP), a lake that sustains high levels of phenotypic diversity of lake trout overall. The characterization of niche use among individuals, as done in this study, is necessary to understand the role that individual variation can play at the beginning of differentiation processes

A non-occidentalist west? Learned ignorance and ecology of knowledge

In this article I argue that, in spite of the apparently unshakable hegemony of the historical, philosophical and sociological arguments invoked by the canonical history of Europe and the world to demonstrate the uniqueness of the West and its superiority, there is room to think of a non-Occidentalist West. By that I mean a vast array of conceptions, theories, arguments that, though produced in the West by recognized intellectual figures, were discarded, marginalized or ignored because they did not fit the political objectives of capitalism and colonialism at the roots of Western modernity. In the article I tackle specifically three topics: the conceptions of antiquity, modern science and a teleology of the future. Among many others who might be selected, I resort to three eccentric figures - Lucian of Samosata, Nicholas of Cusa and Blaise Pascal - to exemplify some of the paths that might guide us in the construction of a non-capitalist, non-colonialist inter-cultural dialogue. Such paths are here designated as those of learned ignorance, ecology of knowledge, wager on another possible world and artisanship of practices

Natural law, state formation and the foundations of social theory

This article proceeds from the claim that the earliest examples of sociological method were linked by a critique of the theories of natural law proposed in the Enlightenment. It illustrates this point by surveying the rise of social theory in the aftermath of the French Revolution and by examining approaches to natural law in key texts in the history of sociology. However, the article claims that natural law remains a blind spot for sociological method, and the original sociological dismissal of natural law as a formal body of normative postulates has prevented the formation of sociology as a comprehensive system of social interpretation. Using a series of historical examples, the article then argues that natural law theory needs in itself to be viewed sociologically, and, throughout modern history, ius-natural thinking has served not only to establish formal norms for evaluating social and political practices, but also to form the positive preconditions for the evolution of contemporary society in its distinctive differentiated form. The article concludes by arguing that a sociological reconstruction of natural law points the way towards a sociological theory of theory, which has typically proved elusive for sociological methodologies