Marcelo Vasconez Carrasco

The dissertation has two parts, each dealing with a problem, namely: 1) What is the most adequate account of fuzziness -the so-called phenomenon of vagueness?, and 2) what is the most plausible solution to the sorites, or heap paradox? I will try to show that fuzzy properties are those which are gradual, amenable to be possessed in a greater or smaller extent. Acknowledgement of degrees in the instantiation of a property allows for a gradual transition from one opposite to the other, each intermediate stage constituting an overlap in certain proportion of both contraries. Hence, degrees in the possession of a property give rise to simple contradictions. The reason why I have chosen those two questions is that they provide the main philosophical motivation for a particular brand of an infinite valued and paraconsistent logic. I will claim that Classical logic (CL) is not adequate to handle fuzzy situations, and, being deficient, is in need of being expanded to make room for degrees of truth and weak contradictions. One can hardly deny the importance of the debate, since what is ultimately at stake is what the limits of truth, rationality, intelligibility and possibility are. The main disciplines within which the research moves are the philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, and ontology.

The dissertation has two parts, each dealing with a problem, namely: 1) What is the most adequate account of fuzziness -the so-called phenomenon of vagueness?, and 2) what is the most plausible solution to the sorites, or heap paradox? I will try to show that fuzzy properties are those which are gradual, amenable to be possessed in a greater or smaller extent. Acknowledgement of degrees in the instantiation of a property allows for a gradual transition from one opposite to the other, each intermediate stage constituting an overlap in certain proportion of both contraries. Hence, degrees in the possession of a property give rise to simple contradictions. The reason why I have chosen those two questions is that they provide the main philosophical motivation for a particular brand of an infinite valued and paraconsistent logic. I will claim that Classical logic (CL) is not adequate to handle fuzzy situations, and, being deficient, is in need of being expanded to make room for degrees of truth and weak contradictions. One can hardly deny the importance of the debate, since what is ultimately at stake is what the limits of truth, rationality, intelligibility and possibility are. The main disciplines within which the research moves are the philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, and ontology.

[ES] Puesto que la concepción acerca de los derechos humanos desarrollada por Lorenzo Peña está expuesta en varios artículos mencionados en la Bibliografía, durante un período que se extiende a lo largo de un par de décadas, el presente trabajo pretende elaborar una síntesis de sus ideas más sobresalientes con el objeto de ofrecer una visión panorámica de la temática propuesta. Se abordarán las cuestiones de la historia, naturaleza y fundamentos de los derechos humanos, y se culminará aludiendo a una justificación del Estado de bienestar basada en el enfoque presentado en las secciones precedentes. [EN] Given that Lorenzo Peña’s conception of human rights is expounded in a number of articles mentioned in the Bibliography during a period stretching over two decades, the current note intends to present a synthesis of his most salient ideas in order to offer a panoramic vision of the proposed subject matter, which will include the history, nature and foundations of human rights, finishing with a consequence regarding the welfare State based on the approach developed in the previous sections.