Ana Marta Gonzalez

Metallothioneins (MTs) are ubiquitous proteins with the capacity to bind heavy metal ions (mainly Cd, Zn or Cu), and they have been found in animals, plants, eukaryotic and prokaryotic micro‐organisms. We have carried out a comparative analysis of ciliate MTs (Tetrahymena species) to well‐known MTs from other organisms, discussing their exclusive features, such as the presence of aromatic amino acid residues and almost exclusive cysteine clusters (CCC) present in cadmium‐binding metallothioneins (CdMTs), higher heavy metal‐MT stoichiometry values, and a strictly conserved modular–submodular structure. Based on this last feature and an extensive gene duplication, we propose a possible model for the evolutionary history of T. thermophila MTs. We also suggest possible functions for these MTs from consideration of their differential gene expressions and discuss the potential use of these proteins and/or their gene promoters for designing molecular or whole‐cell biosensors for a fast detection of heavy metals in diverse polluted ecosystems.

In this chapter, I explore the extent to which Kantian philosophy permits us to view hospitality as an adequate expression of our respect for humanity, and not just as an external, juridical duty, a byproduct of existing political institutions. I argue that, by putting the innate right to freedom at the center of his doctrine of right, Kant’s theory has resources to overcome institutional shortcomings in dealing with the problem of migration. Specifically, by putting us in touch with the humanity of particular others, the duty of hospitality provides us with specific reasons to reform existing institutions when they no longer meet human standards.

In a brief footnote from “What Does it Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking?”, Kant says that, “Reason does not feel”, yet he immediately adds that, “it has insight into its lack and through the drive for cognition it effects the feeling of a need”. He then draws an analogy with moral feeling, “which does not cause any moral law, for this arises wholly from reason; rather, it is caused or effected by moral laws, hence by reason, because the active yet free will needs determinate grounds” (WDO 8: 139-140). This chapter aims to unpack this text, thereby showing the pivotal role of moral feeling in articulating the moral realm.

This volume explores the connections between Thomas Aquinas' doctrine of natural law and contemporary social thought. It aims to make explicit the basic notions of Thomas Aquinas's social ontology and to show how key concepts from sociology, economics, and political science relate to his ethics and social thought. Social ontology is a growing area of contemporary social theory. Scholars in this area reflect on the ontological status of society and the various realities that make up the social realm. However, Aquinas scholars rarely use the term social ontology, instead resorting to his natural law to examine social life. This volume argues that the social thought of Thomas Aquinas, including his natural law theory, implies a social ontology. Aquinas adopts a clear position on the ontological uniqueness of human beings, the intentional structure of human action, and the existence of informal social relations and institutional realities that shape human society. This volume shows how these views can be reconstructed into a coherent social ontology. Its chapters are divided into five thematic parts. Part 1 offers conceptual elements to bridge the gap between Aquinas and contemporary social theory. Part 2 considers the metaphysics and theology implicit in Aquinas' social ontology. Part 3 focuses on the way this ontology is at work in his account of the common good and his approach to natural law. Part 4 expands this reflection to economics. Finally, Part 5 addresses legal and political issues such as political polarization, family law, and the ethics of war. Aquinas, Natural Law, and Social Ontology will appeal to scholars and graduate students interested in the thought of Thomas Aquinas, social and political philosophy, contemporary social theory, Catholic theology, and the social sciences.

Assuming a distinction between civilizationcivilization and moralitymoral culture this chapter explores how Kant approaches the factual plurality of cultures. While the concept of civilization shares in some features of the pragmatic origin of culture, it also has, for Kant, a normative connotation; this is implicit in not only the distinction between civilized and uncivilized peoples, but also in the dutyduty to work for the advancement of a cosmopolitancosmopolitan order in charge of advancing perpetual peacepeace. In this context, it is reasonable to ask which role Kant envisions for the factual plurality of cultures. In this chapter, I intend to clarify the extent to which he takes such plurality simply as a matter of fact, or considers it in an evaluative light.

This chapter explores one aspect of Kant’s crucial contribution to the philosophy of culture. It does so by analyzing two different approaches to the notion of culture, which are explicit in his work. The first, which may be called “genetic”, presents culture almost as a result of a natural dialectic. The second, called “practical”, regards culture as a task for the human being. Reason’s ability to compare and man’s unsocial sociabilitysociability are highlighted as basic elements for the development of culture.

Along with the explicit conception of culture as “perfection of human nature,” that we can easily recognize in Kant’s work, this article argues for the consideration of the entire critical enterprise as culture in a different sense: culture as projection of a subjectivitysubjectivity that seeks in nature the signs of human being’s rational and moral destinydestiny. Accordingly, Kant’s philosophy can be regarded as philosophy of culture, something ultimately possible because of reason’s reflexivity, which realizes its own interestsinterests, and shapes the world in conformity with them.

In order to explore the relationship between research and universities with a Christian identity, it is important to be clear about the identity of social realities and the meaning of ‘Christian identity’ when applied to universities. In my view, the latter requires three elements: (1) assigning a central role to theological reflection, (2) recognizing a mediating role to philosophy, and (3) encouraging a reflective posture in all disciplines. These three aspects should be considered and secured through adequate research policies that manage external constraints with internal ones.

Kant controversially opposed political revolutions; yet, in morality, he clearly encouraged a revolutionary attitude. Drawing especially on the relevant texts in the Metaphysics of Morals, the Religion, the Education and the Anthropology, I explore the conceptual underpinnings of Kant’s position, arguing that Kant’s contrast between moral revolution and reform is at the basis of his twofold notion of noumenal and phenomenal virtue, which in turn explains the contrast he draws between principled versus imitative behaviour in the Education. On this basis, I defend the complementary role of political reform and moral revolution in his approach to cultural progress.

I argue that Rawls’ reading of Kant has been a major influence on the work of some contemporary Kantian scholars. Rawls’ influence on the new Kantian moral theory can be recognized in several points: a) the conception of philosophy as a “deeply practical project”, which leads to the adoption of a first-person approach to ethics; b) the reception of Kant’s philosophy within a pragmatic context, which leads to play down the metaphysical implications of Kant’s dualisms, in favor of an interpretation which seems plausible within a political culture given in advance c) a characteristic interpretation of Kant’s moral constructivism, which while stressing the primacy of the right over the good, tries to specify the ways in which the good plays a role in morals, thereby opening a way to show the relevance of the empirical in Kant’s ethics d) an approach to Kant’s practical reason which stresses the complementarities between the Hypothetical and the Categorical Imperative, interpreted in the light of Rawls’ distinction between the Rational and the Reasonable; e) the central role played by the concept of “rational nature” in the new Kantian moral theory, which may likewise be related to Rawls’ concern for clarifying the conception of the person behind his approach to practical reason.

The present collection brings together a number of studies interested in highlighting the role of reflexivity and sentiment in Kant's philosophy. If philosophy is by definition a reflective endeavor, Kant's writings document a particularly powerful philosophical enterprise; not only because he constitutes reflexivity itself into the cornerstone of philosophical method, but also because, in doing so, he unveils fundamental structures of human subjectivity. Authors in this volume have succeeded in highlighting how Kant's commitment to reflexivity represents a privileged gateway of exploring the complexity and richness of human experience. Aesthetic and moral experiences are particularly eloquent in this regard: aesthetic and moral sentiments represent for Kant a particular site of human reflexivity, which bring to light a specifically human world, marked by different kinds of normativity, in the midst of which humans actually live.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution based on digitalization, the development of AI, robotics, big data, and increasing automation is dredging up older debates on the end of human work. This article contributes to this debate arguing that these changing circumstances represent an opportunity to advance a renewed consideration of human work. By emphasizing its most distinctively human dimensions, including gratuitousness, relationality, and meaningfulness, we propose the articulation of a social model that recognizes relational goods as a specific contribution of human work in an attempt to overcome the state and the market's monopoly of public life built around the dichotomy between the private and the public. Such a social model is based on the concept of circular subsidiarity, which represents a departure from traditional notions of subsidiarity by promoting a dynamic and reciprocal interplay between three essential societal spheres: the state, the market, and organized civil society, all of which have their role to fulfill by providing security, efficiency, and relational goods. Ultimately, this article suggests that circular subsidiarity can lead to a more inclusive and equitable social model by acknowledging how relational goods not only humanize civil society but also sustain the functioning of both the market and the state.

Investigaciones recientes sobre la Ilustración escocesa han dirigido nuestra atención a la conexión entre filosofía moral y el surgimiento de las ciencias sociales en este periodo. Como testigos privilegiados del proceso de modernización, los filósofos escoceses desarrollaron un enfoque original de los problemas morales, planteando, entre tanto, cuestiones de orden epistemológico que son cruciales para entender el posterior desarrollo de la sociología. En la base de esas cuestiones epistemológicas se encuentra la referencia a la razón práctica que da título de este volumen.

Amidst prevailing debates that construe rationality and emotionality as polar opposites, this book explores the manner in which emotions shape not only prevailing conceptions of rationality, but also culture in general terms, making room for us to speak of an 'emotional culture' specific to late-modern societies. Presenting case studies involving cultural artefacts, narratives found in fictional and non-fictional literature and television programs, speech patterns and self-talk, fashion, and social networking practices, The Emotions and Cultural Analysis sheds light on the relationship between emotion and culture and the ways in which emotion can be harnessed for the purposes of cultural analysis.