Rereading Rawls in Arendtian Light: Reflective judgment and historical experience

An interpretation of Rawls constructivist procedure is offered that views it as a theoretical rendering of historical experiences.Publicad

Non parametric reconstruction of distribution functions from observed galactic disks

A general inversion technique for the recovery of the underlying distribution function for observed galactic disks is presented and illustrated. Under the assumption that these disks are axi-symmetric and thin, the proposed method yields the unique distribution compatible with all the observables available. The derivation may be carried out from the measurement of the azimuthal velocity distribution arising from positioning the slit of a spectrograph along the major axis of the galaxy. More generally, it may account for the simultaneous measurements of velocity distributions corresponding to slits presenting arbitrary orientations with respect to the major axis. The approach is non-parametric, i.e. it does not rely on a particular algebraic model for the distribution function. Special care is taken to account for the fraction of counter-rotating stars which strongly affects the stability of the disk. An optimisation algorithm is devised -- generalising the work of Skilling & Bryan (1984) -- to carry this truly two-dimensional ill-conditioned inversion efficiently. The performances of the overall inversion technique with respect to the noise level and truncation in the data set is investigated with simulated data. Reliable results are obtained up to a mean signal to noise ratio of~5 and when measurements are available up to $4 R_{e}$. A discussion of the residual biases involved in non parametric inversions is presented. Prospects of application to observed galaxies and other inversion problems are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures; accepted for publication by MNRA

Sujeto liberal y comunidad : Rawls y la unión social

Este artículo pone de relieve la importancia que tiene para el liberalismo pensar la idea de comunidad. El análisis del modelo liberal de sociedad muestra como en tal propuesta hay motivos relacionados con el bien común, lo cual distancia el liberalismo político del libertarismo. Ahora bien, enfrente de la comunidad homogénea defendida por los comunitaristas, Rawls propone una sociedad compleja y diferenciada que se estructura no a partir de una doctrina comprehensiva, sino mediante una concepción compartida de la justicia, concepción que es compatible con la idea de los ciudadanos como personas libres e iguales dentro de un Estado democrático.This article emphasizes the importance which the liberalism assigns to think the idea of community. To analyse the liberal pattern of society shows that this proposal comprises motives related to common good; therefore the political liberalism moves away of libertarism. However, against the homogeneous community defended by the communitarists, Rawls proposes a complex and differentiated society. This society doesn't structure itself with a comprehensive doctrine, but with a shared conception of justice, which is compatible with the idea of citizens as free and equal people within a democratic State