Bruineberg et al. underestimate the ontological weight of Markov blankets as actual boundaries of systems and lean toward an instrumentalist understanding thereof. Yet Markov blankets need not be deemed mere tools. Determining their reality depends on the fundamental problem of distinguishing between system and environment in physics, which, in turn, demands a metaphysical bedrock backed by a realist stance on science.

The Free Energy Principle (FEP) is currently one of the most promising frameworks with which to address a unified explanation of life-related phenomena. With powerful formalism that embeds a small set of assumptions, it purports to deal with complex adaptive dynamics ranging from barely unicellular organisms to complex cultural manifestations. The FEP has received increased attention in disciplines that study life, including some critique regarding its overall explanatory power and its true potential as a grand unifying theory (GUT). Recently, FEP theorists presented a contribution with the main tenets of their framework, together with possible philosophical interpretations, which lean towards so-called Markovian Monism (MM). The present paper assumes some of the abovementioned critiques, rejects the arguments advanced to invalidate the FEP's potential to be a GUT, and overcomes criticism thereof by reviewing FEP theorists' newly minted metaphysical commitment, namely MM. Specifically, it shows that this philosophical interpretation of the FEP argues circularly and only delivers what it initially assumes, i.e., a dual information geometry that allegedly explains epistemic access to the world based on prior dual assumptions. The origin of this circularity can be traced back to a physical description contingent on relative system-environment separation. However, the FEP itself is not committed to MM, and as a scientific theory it delivers more than what it assumes, serving as a

Reseña de Rovelli, Carlo. The Order of Time. Editor: New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 2018.

Reseña de Hernando José BELLO RODRÍGUEZ y José Manuel GIMÉNEZ AMAYA, Valoración ética de la modernidad según Alasdair MacIntyre, Pamplona: Eunsa («Astrolabio, Serie Antropología y Ética»), 2018, 208 pp., 11 x 18, ISBN 978-84-313-3284-6.

El compatibilismo afirma que el libre albedrío es compatible con el determinismo. Para el "compatibilismo de las bifurcaciones" pertenece a la esencia de la libertad "poder actuar de otra manera", mientras que para el "compatibilismo de la fontalidad" resulta decisiva la ultimidad del agente como fuente de control. Ahora bien, dadas dos partículas con entrelazamiento EPR, la medición de una variable en una de ellas determina instantáneamente el valor de dicha variable en la otra. Experimentos recientes hacen finalmente insostenibles explicaciones basadas en variables ocultas locales: o la naturaleza está ónticamente indeterminada o bien está determinada de modo global. El primer caso es incompatible con los dos compatibilismos y el segundo es incompatible con el "poder actuar de otra manera". Además, implicaría la existencia de variables ocultas no locales como fuente última de determinación, con longitudes de correlación típicas mayores que las del cuerpo humano: la acción no podría originarse en su interior. El compatibilismo, por tanto, debe ser rechazado

We support the development of non-reductive cognitive science and the naturalization of phenomenology for this purpose, and we agree that the 'relational turn' defended by Gallagher is a necessary step in this direction. However, we believe that certain aspects of his relational concept of nature need clarification. In particular, Gallagher does not say whether or how teleology, affect, and other value-related properties of life and mind can be naturalized within this framework. In this paper, we argue that (1) given the phenomenological standards recognized by Gallagher, his commitment to a naturalized phenomenology should entail a commitment to a naturalized concept of value; and (2) the kind of 'relational nature' described by Gallagher in his paper is insufficient for this purpose

The philosopher Roberto Unger and the physicist Lee Smolin have recently argued that the current explanatory framework of cosmology, which presumes a timeless background of unchanging physical laws, should be replaced by a thoroughly relational framework in which time is fundamental and all laws are subject to change. Within this alternative framework, however, Unger and Smolin find themselves confronted by a dilemma: either the laws of nature evolve according to some higher set of ¿meta-laws,¿ which reinstates a timeless background at a higher level, or the laws of nature evolve randomly and the path of inquiry is blocked. In response to this dilemma, the authors propose a theory of causal events as singular, freely chosen, and self-determined optimalities constrained only by their intrinsic relations to all other events.

Thermodynamics developed as a new branch of physics in the 19th century helping to go beyond a purely mechanistic understanding of nature. Among its founding fathers, it is William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) who offers a most promising perspective in order to highlight the influence of religious views in the improvement of science. In this article, I will focus on the controversy about the age of the Earth—which confronted Kelvin with many geologists and defenders of the theory of evolution—and I will explain the connections between Kelvin’s credo and his scientific attack on uniformitarianism. Kelvin’s contribution, even if ultimately proven wrong, was right in spirit and served the transition from qualitative to quantitative geology.

¿Resulta estrictamente posible realizar una reducción epistemológica? La metodología científica reclama que se defina un contorno que separe el sistema del ¿extra-sistema¿. Pero ningún sistema define sus límites desde sí mismo: todo sistema necesita presupuestos extra-sistémicos definidos desde fuera del sistema. En este artículo ilustramos cómo diversas áreas del conocimiento presuponen la presencia de una realidad extra-sistémica que les dé significado: el conocimiento del ¿extra-sistema¿ es necesario para conocer el sistema.

ICS Resumen (inglés): The Church's Magisterium has first considered human activity from the perspective of Christian anthropology in the third Chapter of the Pastoral Constitution Gaudiurn et Spes. Such treatment has proved to be both a point of arrival for precedent theology and a starting point for further theological progress on human action in the world. This study analyzes the content of the Council's text, identifies its key achievements in relation to the earlier tradition and assesses its reception from the main theological and magisterial developments it has inspired. Resumen (español): El magisterio eclesial ha considerado pot primera vez la actividad humana desde la perspectiva de la antropología cristiana en el tercer capítulo de la constitución pastoral Gaudiurn et spes. Dicho tratamiento ha resultado tanto un punto de Ilegada para la teologfía precedente como un punto de partida para ulteriores progresos teológicos sobre la acción humana en el mundo. A lo largo de este estudio se analiza el contenido del texto conciliar, se señalan sus logros fundamentales en relación con la tradición anterior y se valora su recepción a partir de los principales desarrollos teológicos y magisteriales que ha inspirado.

ICS

ICS

ICS

Resumen (inglés): This article analyzes specific proposals in Italian theology for the construction of Fundamental Moral after the publication of Veritatis splendor. It considers the contributions of authors who, even without having a global project in mind, have written specific works in this field. The most notable feature is the central pole of conscience as mediator between the Christological foundation of morality on one hand and anthropology on the other. We suggest, as a further line of research for the dialogue with global perspectives in Fundamental Moral Theology, the study of Jesus Christ's moral conscience in his Paschal Mystery. Resumen (español): Este estudio aborda algunas propuestas particulares de la teología italiana para la construcción de la moral fundamental después de la publicación de Verítatis splendor. Se considera la contribución de los autores que, sin ofrecer un proyecto global, han dedicado obras específicas a esta disciplina. La característica más destacada es la centralidad de la conciencia como mediadora entre una fundación cristológica de la moral y la antropología subsiguiente. Se sugiere como una posible línea de investigación para el diálogo con los proyectos globales de Teología Moral fundamental el estudio de la conciencia moral de Jesucristo en su Misterio Pascua.

Este volumen recoge algnos trabajos presentados en el XXXII Simposio de Teología de la Universidad de Navarra, que se celebró del 19 al 21 de octubre de 2011