Tyrimo „racionalumas“

Publikacijoje nagrinėjamas racionalumas, jo tipai ir istorinė raida. Racionalizmo atsiradimas Vakaruose siejamas su ikisokratikų filosofija. Skiriami ir analizuojami keturi racionalizmo tipai: naivusis racionalizmas (R. Descartesas, I. Kantas, K. R. Popperis, R. Carnapas, I. Lakatosas ir kt.), kontekstą įvertinantis racionalizmas (marksizmas, antropologija), naivusis anarchizmas (įvairios ekstazinės religijos ir politinio anarchizmo formos) ir paties autoriaus pozicija, kurios pirmtakais jis laiko S. Kierkegaardą, N. Bohrą ir F. Nietzschę. Naivusis racionalizmas yra visuotinis ir besąlygiškas bei išreiškiamas taip pat visuotinėmis ir besąlygiškomis taisyklėmis bei kriterijais. Pasak kontekstą įvertinančio racionalizmo, racionalumas nėra visuotinis, bet galimi visuotinai galiojantys sąlyginiai teiginiai, kurie nustato, kas ir kada racionalu. Naivusis anarchizmas teigia, kad visos taisyklės ir kriterijai turi ribas ir kad kaip tik dėl to reikia išsiversti be jų. Autoriaus manymu, kontekstą įvertinančios taisyklės turi ne pakeisti absoliučias taisykles, bet pas papildyti. Kiekvienas kriterijus, kontroliuojantis veiklos tėkmę, pats turi tapti jos dalimi

Cuán equivocada es la ecología de los filósofos

El autor afirma que el camino de un movimiento fundamental e importante como el ecologista, no debería ser obstaculizado por el infructífero y estéril debate académico. El problema ambiental tan cercano a nosotros, palpable en primera persona, urgente: exige una solución. Y se pregunta si es posible esperar de la abstracción filosófica soluciones reales a las cuales, por lo demás, no se ha adjuntado ninguna con resultados concretos de alguna investigación empírica: Finalmente reflexiona sobre la necesidad de que la acción encuentre su fundamento en el pensamiento.L’auteur affirme que le chemin emprunté par un mouvement aussi fondamental et important que le mouvement écologiste, ne devrait pas être limité par le stérile et infructueux débat académique. Le problème environnemental qui nous est si proche, dont nous souffrons à la première personne, est urgent : il exige une solution. Il s’interroge à savoir s’il est possible d’attendre de l’abstraction philosophique des solutions réelles auxquelles, par ailleurs, n’a été associé aucun résultat concret provenant d’une recherche empirique. Enfin, il réfléchit sur la nécessité que l’action trouve son fondement dans la pensée.The author claims that the path of a fundamental and important movement as the ecologists should not be hampered by the fruitless and sterile academic debate. The environmental problem, so close to us, palpable in first person, urgent calls for a solution. And you wonder if you can expect for real solutions from philosophical abstraction which, moreover, has not attached any specific results of any empirical research. Finally he analyses the need for action to find its foundation in thought

Creativity out of chaos

Creativity is said to be highly desired in post-modern and post-industrial organizations Creativity and anarchy on the one hand, and managerialism, on the other, can be seen as different forms of knowledge, two opposed ideals. In many organizational as well as societal reforms we currently observe it is the managerialist ideal that wins over the anarchic. In this paper, we wonder if people fear anarchy? We reflect on the possible reasons for the fear, and we also try to explain why we believe that anarchic organizing should not be avoided or feared

Synthesis and characterization of hypoxia-mimicking bioactive glasses for skeletal regeneration

The cellular response to hypoxia (low oxygen pressure) is vital for skeletal tissue development and regeneration. Numerous processes, including progenitor cell recruitment, differentiation and angiogenesis, are activated via the hypoxia pathway. Novel materials-based strategies designed to activate the hypoxia pathway are therefore of great interest for orthopaedic tissue engineering. Resorbable bioactive glasses (BGs) were developed to activate the hypoxia pathway by the controlled release of cobalt ions (at physiological relevant concentrations) whilst controlling BG apatite-forming ability. Two series of soda-lime-phosphosilicate glasses were synthesised with increasing concentrations of cobalt. Compositions were calculated to maintain constant network connectivity (2.13) by considering that cobalt is taking part in the network in the first series, and is acting as a network modifier in the second series. Mg2+ and Zn2+ were added to one of the Co2+-containing glasses to inhibit HCA formation. The presence of HCA formation is undesirable for the use of BG in soft tissues e. g. cartilage. Cobalt was present in both the silicate and phosphate phases of the BG. In addition, evidence was found that it plays a dual role in the silicate phase, entering the network as well as disrupting it as a network modifying oxide. Consistent with this dual role, the presence of cobalt in the BG was shown to decrease ion release. HCA formation was delayed with cobalt addition as well as incorporation of Mg2+ and Zn2+ into the BGs. Importantly, cobalt release was found to be proportional to cobalt content of the BGs enabling the controlled delivery of cobalt in therapeutically active doses

Epistemic pluralism, epistemic relativism and ‘hinge’ epistemology

According to Paul Boghossian (2006, 73) a core tenet of epistemic relativism is what he calls epistemic pluralism, according to which (i) ‘there are many fundamentally different, genuinely alternative epistemic systems’, but (ii) ‘no facts by virtue of which one of these systems is more correct than any of the others’. Embracing the former claim is more or less uncontroversial–viz., a descriptive fact about epistemic diversity. The latter claim by contrast is very controversial. Interestingly, the Wittgenstenian ‘hinge’ epistemologist, in virtue of maintaining that rational evaluation is essentially local, will (arguably, at least) be committed to the more controversial leg of the epistemic pluralist thesis, simply in virtue of countenancing the descriptive leg. This paper does three central things. First, it is shown that this ‘relativistic’ reading of Wittgenstein’s epistemology is plausible only if the locality of rational evaluation (in conjunction with a reasonable appreciation of epistemic diversity) commits the Wittgenstenian to a further epistemic incommensurability thesis. Next, Duncan Pritchard’s (e.g., 2009; 2015) novel attempt to save the hinge epistemologist from a commitment to epistemic incommensurability is canvassed and critiqued. Finally, it is suggested how, regardless of whether Pritchard’s strategy is successful, there might be another very different way—drawing from recent work by John MacFarlane (2014)—for the hinge epistemologist to embrace epistemic pluralism while steering clear of epistemic relativism, understood in a very specific way

Sport, genetics and the `natural athlete': The resurgence of racial science

This article explores the ethical implications of recent discussions that naturalize the relationship between race, the body and sport within the frame of genetic science. Many suggestions of a racially distributed genetic basis for athletic ability and performance are strategically posited as a resounding critique of the `politically correct' meta-narratives of established sociological and anthropological forms of explanation that emphasize the social and cultural construction of race. I argue that this use of genetic science in order to describe and explain common-sense impressions of racial physiology and sporting ability is founded on erroneous premises of objectivity and disinterest, and inflates the analytical efficacy of scientific truth claims. I suggest that assertions of a value-free science of racial athletic ability reify race as inherited permanent biological characteristics that produce social hierarchies and are more characteristic of a longer history of `racial science'