Decentralized finance and SME in Latin America

Latin America is undergoing a profound reorganization. Though the worst years of the recession seem tobe behind us, the future remains fraught with uncertainty. Latin American nations will need to adapt tooperating in an increasingly deregulated and open economy governed by market sovereignty in thecoming years. Commitment to market forces, on the other hand, should not entail the State ceasing tointervene in the economy, but rather redefining the scope and intensity of its engagement. Futurepublic policies should shift away from managing a basic reality defined by governmental laws andcontrols and toward managing a more complex environment defined by numerous actors, private andpublic, operating under competitive norms and interacting with one another. Within this broadercontext, decentralization processes emerge as a primary forum for state transformation. This articlediscusses the primary qualities that must be retained by an economic adjustment plan aimed atachieving compatible fundamental macroeconomic balances and ensuring democracy's survival. Second,the study argues for seeing the present trend toward decentralization not only as a political byproductof democratic consolidation, but as a crucial component of a broader strategy of positive adjustment.

Perceiving Images and Styles

Marks individually or in combination constitute images that represent objects. How do those images represent those objects? Marks vary in style, both between and within images. Images also vary in style. How do those styles relate to each other and to the objects that those images represent? Referencing a diverse range of images, we answer the first question with a response-dependence theory of image representation derived from Mark Johnston, differentiating Lockean primary qualities of marks from secondary qualities of images. We answer the second question with a perceptual theory of style derived from Paul Grice, differentiating physical style from image style, and representing conventionally from representing conversationally.

Qualities, Powers, and Bare Powers in Locke

Lisa Downing focuses on the important issue of the metaphysics of Locke’s primary–secondary qualities distinction. In recent years this has returned as a topic of scholarly contention. Downing is concerned by the anti-realist trends in recent work on the metaphysics of Locke primary–secondary qualities distinction, and she is keen to defend the claims that Locke was ‘putting forward a kind of realism about secondary qualities’ and that his realism does not readily appear to be a reductive form of realism. Downing begins with the traditional claim that Locke’s distinction was driven by his understanding of matter theory within the new science, like many others in the seventeenth century. From this perspective, she criticizes recent work on the nature and priority of primary qualities, which fail to root the primary in a metaphysical base or connect them to the metaphysical base in the wrong way. Next, she turns toward explaining her own understanding of the subordinate status of the secondary qualities, which brings Downing to Locke’s claim that secondary qualities are ‘mere powers’ and what this meant metaphysically to him.

Secondary Qualities as Dispositions

In this paper I will defend the view that, according to Locke, secondary qualities are dispositions to produce sensations in us. Although this view is widely attributed to Locke, this interpretation needs defending for two reasons. First, commentators often assume that secondary qualities are dispositional properties because Locke calls them “powers” to produce sensations. However, primary qualities are also powers, so the powers locution is insufficient grounds for justifying the dispositionalist interpretation. Second, if secondary qualities are dispositional properties, then objects would retain secondary qualities while not being observed, but Locke says that colors “vanish” in the dark. Some commentators use this as evidence that Locke rejects the dispositionalist view of secondary qualities, and even those that are sympathetic to the traditional interpretation find these comments to be problematic. By contrast, I argue that even in these supposedly damning passages Locke shows an unwavering commitment to the view that the powers to produce sensations in us, i.e., the secondary qualities, remain in objects even when they are not being perceived. Thus, the arguments against the traditional interpretation are unpersuasive, and we should conclude that Locke does indeed hold that secondary qualities are dispositions to cause sensations in us.

“A Notion of the True System of the World”: Berkeley and his Use of Plato inSiris

This paper considers Berkeley’s use of Plato in Siris. Berkeley’s engagement with ancient thinkers in Siris has been a source of puzzlement for many readers. In this paper I focus on Siris § 266. In particular, I consider why Berkeley says of the Platonists that they “distinguished the primary qualities in bodies from the secondary” and why, given his own well-known misgivings about the distinction, he characterizes this as part of a “notion of the true system of the world.” I argue that in Siris Berkeley accepts a distinctive form of corpuscularianism, and that he thinks a distinction between primary and secondary qualities follows from this. I further argue that in § 266, and elsewhere in Siris, Berkeley engages in a careful reading of Plato’s Timaeus, which he uses to bolster his defense of the compatibility between corpuscularianism and his immaterialist idealism.

On Psychic Pneuma

This chapter offers a critical examination of John’s third medical work, On Psychic Pneuma. The first section deals with John’s audience, contextualizing his relationship with his dedicatee, Joseph Rhakendytes. John describes the psychic pneuma as the vehicle and first instrument of the soul; consequently, the purified state of this pneuma, achieved through an appropriate regimen, is essential to keeping Joseph’s bodily and spiritual health in good condition. It is then shown that, unlike earlier Greek and Byzantine theories on human physiology in which authors identified three kinds of pneumata, John identified four distinct pneumata: in the stomach, liver, heart, and brain, respectively. Furthermore, John introduced an innovative theory in which each of the four pneumata is correlated with two primary qualities (unnamed, ‘gastric’ pneuma: cold and moist; natural pneuma: warm and moist; vital pneuma: warm and dry; psychic pneuma: cold and dry). A close reading of John’s text unveils the major importance that is given throughout the treatise to the psychic pneuma, which is dispersed throughout the body via the nerves and is responsible for sensory and motor activities. Any disturbance in the quality, for example, of the psychic pneuma may affect its flow and can thus be a cause of impairment. Finally, it is pointed out that John made a direct connection between the quality of pneuma and one’s daily regimen, including diet, physical exercise, bathing, and sleep, thus providing a systematic introduction to the qualitative change in pneuma as an object of treatment.

God in the Philosophy of Alexander

In the view of Alexander Space-Time or Pure Motion is the basic stuff of the universe, for it is Space-Time or Pure Motion that remains if one thinks out all that can be excluded through a rigorous act of abstraction short of annihilation. Alexander subscribes to the doctrine of emergent evolution and holds that the empirical world in all its ascending levels emerges out of the primal background of Space-Time. The first ascending level of emergence is that of matter with primary qualities; the next ascending level is that of secondary qualities; life emerges in the next ascending level and mind emerges in the next ascending level. Reductive materialism must be rejected, for each new quality emerging in the ascending level is irreducible to the previous level and there is always an explanatory gap between the previous level and the ascending level. The highest of the empirical qualities known to us is mind or consciousness; there is an empirical quality which is to succeed the distinctive empirical quality of our level, that new empirical quality is God or deity. We cannot tell what the nature of deity is; but we can be certain that it is not mere mind or spirit, for no new emergent quality can be reduced to the previous level. Rather deity is what mind or spirit deserves in the ascending order.

Words for Sensible Qualities and the Problem of Perceptual Variation

This chapter proposes a picture of reference fixing for color adjectives and adjectives for other sensible qualities, according to which the relevant reference-fixing conventions allow those adjectives to be used with different intended standards in different contexts. It is argued that this explains the fact (used by secondary-quality theorists and eliminativists in “perceptual variation arguments”) that different equally normal people classify the same object by means of prima facie incompatible color adjectives, and that the explanation is perfectly compatible with the properties referred to by uses of these adjectives being primary qualities or objective properties. It is also argued that the picture satisfies a number of desiderata not satisfied by other objectivist theories in the literature.

A Study of Job Satisfaction of Academicians

Every management face challenges daily, but there are some challenges which are customary to every management. One from such common problems confronted by the management while managing employees (teachers) include - Job satisfaction & Employee Loyalty. The invaluable resource that any institute possesses is its work force; indeed, an employee’s longer work experience at the same corporate enhances his worth. The primary qualities a teacher possesses include being introspective, being cooperative, being directive and being expressive. A syllabus which is effective and a curriculum that is well planned is only fruitful with availability of teachers who are meticulous in their duties. Knowledge alone cannot be the basis for gauging the ability of a teacher. There are other factors too like whether the teacher is comfortable in handling the profession that impacts the effectiveness of the system. With many research works having taken place in this zone with multiple organizations, what we lack is a distinct research on satisfaction at job which needs to be taken up.Hence, we conducted a research where we took a sample size containing 50 teachers and performed the survey on the premise of systematic sampling. The method followed in the process of acquiring and assembly of data was structured questionnaire method.