Love as Origin of Science

Summary The approaches to the possibility of theology as science are divided roughly into three types: first, the internalist approach which rejects any attempt to verify the objective validity of revelation under the general concept of science. Second, the externalist approach which demands the verification of objective validity of revelatory truth. Third, the inclusivist approach which seeks the scientificity of theology from a hermeneutic perspective. Outlining the crucial points and limits of these approaches and replacing the question about theology as science with a theological reexamination of the possibility of science in general, this paper tries to suggest an alternative approach by establishing the possibility of scientific knowledge in general from the trinitarian perspective. Under this reformulation of the question, the philosophy of science set forth by Fichte as the most rigorous model of theory of science is critically explored. In conclusion, it is argued that the ultimate ground of all human knowledge and science consists in the eternal divine love and trust in it.

Validación y aplicación de un instrumento para el análisis de estereotipos de género en largometrajes de dibujos animados

The process of design and validation of the content and structure of a tool for the analysis of gender stereotypes applicable to feature films, short films, and television series, both realistic and cartoonish, is presented. The model is called EG_5x4 and consists of five dimensions (corporal, attitudinal, social, affective-sexual, and audiovisual), being novel because of its distribution into four pairs of items per category. The methodological process began with the writing, based on previous instruments on gender stereotypes, of a draft of the items, which were distributed in dimensions and organized in pairs to be able to independently relate each statement to the male and/or female gender. This draft was evaluated by 35 experts (inter-judge validation). The global results of this phase determined the objective validity of the construct (CVI of 0.709 points). The qualitative contributions were considered, and the final writing and design of the instrument was reviewed, being applied to the analysis of 23 animated films. The coincidence in the items (analyzed separately by two researchers) and the wealth of nuances in the results led to the conclusion that the EG_5x4 instrument is valid and reliable for analysis of gender stereotypes in the audiovisual field. Resumen Se presenta el proceso de diseño y validación del contenido y estructura de un instrumento de análisis de estereotipos de género aplicable a largometrajes, cortometrajes y series de televisión, tanto realistas como de dibujos animados. Se trata de un modelo denominado EG_5x4, constituido por 5 dimensiones (corporal, actitudinal, social, afectivo-sexual y audiovisual) y que resulta novedoso por su distribución en 4 parejas de items por categoría. El proceso metodológico se inició con la redacción, a partir de instrumentos previos sobre estereotipos de género, de un borrador de los enunciados, que se distribuyeron en dimensiones y se organizaron en parejas para poder relacionar de manera independiente cada afirmación con el género masculino y/o femenino. Este borrador se sometió a evaluación por 35 personas expertas (validación interjueces). Los resultados globales de esta fase determinaron la validez objetiva del constructo, pues arrojaron un CVI de 0,709 puntos. Se consideraron las aportaciones cualitativas y se revisó la redacción y diseño finales del instrumento, que se aplicó al análisis de 23 filmes animados. La coincidencia en los items (analizados separadamente por parte de dos investigadoras) y la riqueza de matices en los resultados llevan a concluir que el instrumento EG_5x4 es válido y fiable para el análisis de estereotipos de género en el ámbito audiovisual.

The Role of Synthetic A Priori Propositions in the Development of Kant’s Account of Practical Autonomy: A Critique of Watkins’ Reading of Kant’s Prolegomena

I draw attention to a 12-page Vorarbeit to Kant’s Prolegomena from the so-called Scheffner-Nachlaß and argue that the parallel Kant draws there between the possibility of theoretical and practical synthetic a priori propositions provides important insight into the development of his account of practical autonomy in the Groundwork. Based on a brief sketch of the role synthetic a priori propositions play in the development of Kant’s critical philosophy, I conclude that for Kant the objective validity of any science depends on the objective validity of a number of synthetic a priori propositions.

Hegel’s Dialectical Method: A Response to the Modification View

A prevailing view in the literature on Hegel’s dialectical method is that employing it involves advancing a false account and then modifying it to be closer to the truth. I will call this the Modification View. In this essay, I argue that the Modification View is incorrect. Hegel’s insight, I show, is that one can only explain the objective validity of a form of thought through employing that very form. Consequently, the dialectical method cannot relate to its subject matter as something given to it, and so cannot involve advancing and then correcting errors in one’s account.

Deduction of morality and freedom in Kant’s ethics

In the third section of the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant seeks, on the basis of the idea of the necessary presumption of freedom, to provide a deduction of the supreme moral principle and to prove its objective validity. Three years later, in the Critique of Practical Reason, he explicitly denies the possibility of making such deduction, and by changing methodological assumptions, tries to show that awareness of the moral law as a fact of reason is the basis for the deduction of freedom. In this paper we will argue that a direct contrast between Kant?s two texts clearly shows that a radical shift in his thought has taken place. The purpose of this text is to show that Kant had reasons to be dissatisfied with the deduction of the moral law offered in the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, which led him to change his argumentative course when writing the Second Critique.

Taking Detours through the “Transcendental Dialectic”. The Principles of Homogeneity, Specification, and Continuity

In a crucial paragraph (KrV, A 663-664 / B 691-692) of the first part of the “Appendix to the Transcendental Dialectic”, Kant discusses the specific status of the principles of homogeneity, specification, and continuity. In doing so, he refers to an already proven argument and thus to other passages of the Critique of Pure Reason. In search of this argument the “Transcendental Analytic” but in particular the “first book” of the “Transcendental Dialectic” turn out to be possible reference points. Although this contextualisation demands further systematic and editorial reflections, it also allows the clarification of the status of the principles and their justification in relation to a subjective deduction. Kant offers with the subjective deduction, as introduced in the “Preface” (of the first edition of the Critique of Pure Reason) and again in the “first book” of the “Transcendental Dialectic”, a first argumentative strategy, which differs from the objective one but provides “some objective validity” (KrV, A 664 / B 692; Kant, 1998, p. 602) and therefore has systematic importance for the principles of homogeneity, specification, and continuity. My aim is to offer immanent strategies for a justification of the principles of homogeneity, specification, and continuity in the framework of the Critique of Pure Reason.