David Alvargonzález

In this paper, I put forward a theory about the modes and dimensions of being. In the first section, I define existence through coexistence, understood as the codetermination of certain things and processes via other things and processes. In the second section, I differentiate between modes and dimensions of being. In the third section, I argue that the modes of existing are the different ways in which coexistence and codetermination take place and discuss two types of modes ("fundamental" and "categorial"), to subsequently present a classification thereof. In the fourth section, I posit a theory about the dimensions of any existing thing or process, arguing for the existence of two types of dimensions: configurational and processual.

Se ensaya en este artículo una suerte de mapa de la obra de Gustavo Bueno en el que se indican los nódulos centrales y las obras más relevantes. A tal fin se toma como referencia la clasificación de las disciplinas filosóficas tal como la propuso el mismo Bueno en el Diccionario filosófico de Pelayo García (1999) y también ciertos artículos de 2004, escritos por el filósofo desde la atalaya de sus ochenta años, en la intención de mantenernos lo más cerca posible de una perspectiva emic. En la segunda parte, se intentará justificar, hasta donde sea posible, una elección personal de los libros juzgados como los más indicados para iniciarse en el estudio de la obra de Gustavo Bueno.

En este artículo presento una clasificación de las teorías éticas acerca del aborto provocado. En esa clasificación utilizo dos criterios que, aunque inseparables, se pueden tratar relativamente disociados uno del otro. En primer lugar, presento las teorías ordenadas según el estatuto ontológico y ético que otorgan a los gametos, cigotos, preembriones, embriones, fetos y neonatos, y discuto las teorías basadas en la idea de potencialidad. En segundo lugar, me refiero a las teorías centradas en la libertad de la madre. En las consideraciones finales reconozco explícitamente el partidismo de la teoría de teorías propuesta.

In this paper, I touch on the holotic structure of the ideas of unity, identity and finality, using the word “holotic” to refer to a theory that includes both partonomic (or mereological) wholes and taxonomic (or diairological) wholes. In the second section, I expound on two classifications of wholes and two classifications of the types of parts I deem relevant to the ideas of unity, identity and finality. In the third and fourth sections, I discuss how these three ideas acquire different significance depending on the type of totalities and parts involved.

This paper analyzes the transformation from the human zygote to the implanted embryo under the prism of substantial change. After a brief introduction, it vindicates the Aristotelian ideas of substance and accident, and those of substantial and accidental change. It then claims that the transformation from the multicelled zygote to the implanted embryo amounts to a substantial change. Pushing further, it contends that this substantial change cannot be explained following patterns of genetic reductionism, emergence, and self-organization, and proposes Gustavo Bueno’s idea of anamorphosis as a means to encapsulate criticism against such positions.

Three recent studies carried out in the Spanish regions of Madrid, Valencia, and Murcia have shown that medical residents at public hospitals are systematically required to work for more than 48 hours a week. This practice is institutionalised, and there are indicators suggesting that it also occurs in other public hospitals throughout Spain. The obligation to work excessive hours has been shown to have harmful consequences for workers’ physical and psychological health while jeopardizing residents’ and patients’ safety. I argue that behaviours contrary to people’s health and safety imply bioethical and, in this case, institutional, malpractice.

In this paper, I shall present a reasoned answer to the question about the usefulness of philosophy. I start by analyzing the meaning and intentionality of the question “philosophy: what for?” Next, I study the different meanings of the word “philosophy” in the context of that question. In the third section, I present some examples of certain answers given to the question “philosophy: what for?” as they can be studied from a historical and anthropological perspective. Next, I take into account certain outstanding philosophical systems to see how they have answered the question about the usefulness of philosophy. Finally, I argue a reasoned answer to the question from the perspective of a Stoic, materialistic philosophy of the present.

The Spanish philosopher Gustavo Bueno coined the expression “substantive arts” to refer to those arts that do not serve any immediate, mundane or practical purpose. In this paper, I briefly present this idea and put forward a definition of the substantive arts as an alternative to those used until now. Starting from the assumption that since the end of the 18th century there has been a set of arts that have their own substantivity, I expound on certain criteria widely used as distinctive features to define the substantive arts. I subsequently put forward an alternative intensional criterion to characterize the substantive arts. To end, I draw some corollaries following from the application of this criterion.

In this paper, I put forward a theory about the modes and dimensions of being. In the first section, I define existence through coexistence, understood as the codetermination of certain things and processes via other things and processes. In the second section, I differentiate between modes and dimensions of being. In the third section, I argue that the modes of existing are the different ways in which coexistence and codetermination take place and discuss two types of modes ("fundamental" and "categorial"), to subsequently present a classification thereof. In the fourth section, I posit a theory about the dimensions of any existing thing or process, arguing for the existence of two types of dimensions: configurational and processual.

Resumen En este artículo discutiré cuáles son los rasgos específicos que distinguen las ciencias frente a otras instituciones históricas. Repasaré varias filosofías que conciben las ciencias a partir de rasgos que son constitutivos, pero son genéricos: así ocurre cuando se entiende la ciencia como explicación, como comprensión, como conocimiento, como descripción, como representación, como construcción, como institución cultural, como experimentación y elaboración de hipótesis, como teoría, y como instrumento de dominio e intervención sobre parcelas de la realidad. Propondré ciertos rasgos específicos de los teoremas y de los campos científicos que permiten distinguir las ciencias de otras formaciones históricas.In this paper, I will discuss what specific traits distinguish sciences from other historical institutions. First I will review several philosophies conceiving sciences having in mind constitutive, but generic, features. This is the case when sciences are understood as explanation, as comprehension, as knowledge, as description, as representation, as construction, as cultural institution, as experimentation and elaboration of hypotheses, as theory, and as instrument of domination and intervention on reality. I put forward certain specific traits of theorems and scientific fields that allow us to distinguish sciences from other historical formations.

Tras una breve introducción al materialismo filosófico de Gustavo Bueno y a su antropología, se expone su teoría acerca de la diferencia entre individuo humano y persona, y se distingue entre la muerte del individuo humano biológico y el fallecimiento de la persona humana. Se pasa, entonces, a presentar la diferencia entra las normas éticas, morales y políticas, con el objeto de discutir el significado de una muerte buena y un buen fallecimiento desde cada uno de esos tres sistemas axiológicos. Por último, se expone y discute, tanto desde un punto de vista ético como político, la teoría de la «eutanasia procesal» propuesta por Gustavo Bueno.

In this paper, I will propose a classification of analogies based on their internal structure. Selecting the criteria used in that classification first requires discussing the minimal constitutive parts of any analogy. Accordingly, I will discuss the differences between analogy and similarity and between analogy and “synalogy,” and I will stress the importance of the analogy of operations and procedures. Finally, I will set forth a classification of the different types of analogies, which lends itself to a further understanding of the differences between certain modulations of the general idea of analogy, such as archetypes, prototypes, models, simulations, parables, paradigms, canons, maps, thought experiments, myths, utopias, dystopias and fables.

This article analyzes certain aspects of the structure of bioethics as a discipline. It begins by arguing that bioethics is an academic discipline of a pragmatic nature and then puts forward a classification of the main problems, issues, and concerns in bioethics, using this classification as a way to outline the limits and framework of the field. Pushing further, it contends that comprehensive treatment of any topic in bioethics requires that three normative dimensions be taken into account. It concludes that the classification of the issues and analysis of each issue's normative dimensions can provide valuable contributions toward understanding the sui generis structure of bioethics as a pragmatic discipline.

Las relaciones entre los principios de la ética y los requerimientos de la política no siempre son armónicas. En este artículo, en primer lugar, se propone una definición de los ámbitos propios de la ética y de la política. A continuación, se analizan dos ámbitos en los que se aprecia un conflicto inevitable, estructural, entre ética y política de modo que el bien político requiere el mal ético: los conflictos armados y las políticas de inmigración. A continuación, se hace referencia a conflictos que pretenden estar justificados en la idiosincrasia histórica o cultural de ciertas naciones. Por último, se citan contextos donde la ética y la política persiguen fines comunes o, simplemente, se ignoran mutuamente.