Pablo Rodriguez

Background The globalization of medical science carries for doctors worldwide a correlative duty to deepen their understanding of patients' cultural contexts and religious backgrounds, in order to satisfy each as a unique individual. To become better informed, practitioners may turn to MedLine, but it is unclear whether the information found there is an accurate representation of culture and religion. To test MedLine's representation of this field, we chose the topic of death and dying in the three major monotheistic religions. Methods We searched MedLine using PubMed in order to retrieve and thematically analyze full-length scholarly journal papers or case reports dealing with religious traditions and end-of-life care. Our search consisted of a string of words that included the most common denominations of the three religions, the standard heading terms used by the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature, and the Medical Subject Headings used by the National Library of Medicine. Eligible articles were limited to English-language papers with an abstract. Results We found that while a bibliographic search in MedLine on this topic produced instant results and some valuable literature, the aggregate reflected a selection bias. American writers were over-represented given the global prevalence of these religious traditions. Denominationally affiliated authors predominated in representing the Christian traditions. The Islamic tradition was under-represented. Conclusion MedLine's capability to identify the most current, reliable and accurate information about purely scientific topics should not be assumed to be the same case when considering the interface of religion, culture and end-of-life care.

El arte, junto con la ética y la mística, constituye, dentro de la filosofía de Schopenhauer, una de las posibles soluciones a la "miseria del mundo". En el presente trabajo realizaremos un recorrido por las principales tesis de la estética schopenhaueriana desde una perspectiva metafísica. En primer lugar, analizaremos los aspectos subjetivos del fenómeno artístico a fin de responder a la pregunta por qué tipo de sujeto promueve el arte. En segundo término, nos ocuparemos de los aspectos objetivos del arte y elaboraremos una caracterización de lo que nuestro autor denomina Idea. Por último, desarrollaremos las consecuencias metafísicas del planteamiento estético de Schopenhauer.Art, along with ethics and mysticism, is in Shopenhauer's philosophy one of the possible solutions to the "misery of the world". In this paper we will attempt a brief discussion on the main theses in Schopenhauer's aesthetics from a metaphysical perspective. First, we will analyze the subjective aspects of the artistic phenomenon in order to ascertain what kind of subject promotes art. Secondly, we will deal with the objective aspects of art and develop a characterization of what the author termed as Idea. Finally, we will delve into the metaphysical implications of Schopenhauer's aesthetics