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Materia y espíritu apuntan a lo más inmediato: a lo que accedemos por medio de los sentidos externos e internos (la materia); a lo que experimentamos gracias a la introspección (el espíritu). Si embargo, la indagación filosófica de estos conceptos ha tropezado con dificultades comparables a las que suscitan las entidades más inaccesibles. Sin duda forman la dualidad que ha provocado mayor número de discusiones a lo largo de la historia del pensamiento. En lugar de estudiarla de un modo temático o sistemático, los autores de este volumen han escogido 42 figuras representativas de todas las épocas y exponen cómo entienden ambas nociones y de qué forma conciben sus relaciones mutuas. El espectro de propuestas es variadísimo: desde negar la existencia de una de ellas, reduciéndola a la otra, hasta separarlas de modo más tajante o bien defender que son complementarias. Hasta la llegada de la Modernidad su tratamiento tocaba por igual todos los registros de la ontología y la teoría del conocimiento, pero en la discusión contemporánea la referencia a lo antropológico se ha hecho dominante, sin dejar tampoco de afectar a lo lo biológico e incluso a lo artificial. El lector encontrará aquí un panorama global de lo que la filosofía ha conseguido elucidar sobre dos ideas que forman el principal eje de comprensión de lo real, sin desatender las aportaciones de la ciencia y la religión.

Disponible en  Comares Editorial

This book aims to demonstrate the current state of scientific theories of consciousness in an impartial manner, making a great effort to present them in their historical and conceptual context. The book presents two major novelties. On the one hand, the explanation of scientific theories of consciousness for an educated but non-specialist audience, including the most recent scientific findings. On the other hand, the historical, philosophical and critical context of these theories. Both are presented in an open manner, so that the reader can draw his or her own conclusions. To the best of our knowledge, there is no such book published in Spanish, and probably not in English either.

Available in Tecnos

According to some scholars, the confrontation between bioconservatives and transhumanists will dominate the entire political and ideological debate in the remainder of the 21st century. Rarely has a debate of such scope been raised, since it involves nothing less than reaching a decision on the very identity of the human species, on what the future holds for it and on the possibility of influencing its eventual transformation, without excluding the possibility of its disappearance to give way to a post-humanity that has yet to be defined. This book examines and discusses the positions of a selection of the most distinguished advocates and critics of the transhumanist perspective.

In 1786, the existence of a close relationship between electricity and muscle contraction was discovered. Persevering researchers worked for the next hundred years to make the most of this new gateway to the innermost web of life. When nineteenth-century science reached its peak with Maxwell and Darwin, the hope spread of unlocking all the secrets of the mind through electromagnetic force combined with evolution by natural selection. Leading figures, such as the American William James and the Spaniard Santiago Ramón y Cajal, heralded a phase of continuous theoretical and experimental advances. The focus was on the brain as the meeting point between the biological and the mental. The 20th century has seen countless achievements, thanks to the contributions of psychopathology, morphology, physiology, molecular biology, artificial intelligence and observation technology. Studies of the nervous systems of other animal species have also led to an increasingly comprehensive understanding of the human brain. Many specialists believed (and often still believe) in the short-term disappearance of any unknowns concerning what is acknowledged to be the most complex structure in the entire universe. With the 21st century, scholars have become more cautious: while progress on all fronts has not ceased, new and increasingly challenging questions have also arisen. Far from running the risk of “dying of success”, brain and mind science should continue to seek new synergies. It is very likely that the scientific and the philosophical will have to collaborate without ever managing to glimpse a horizon free of enigmas and therefore of further enrichment. It is therefore important to examine what were and are the anthropological ideas of the personalities who presaged and continue to drive the neuroscientific revolution.

The 16th and 17th centuries witnessed the most important event in the entire intellectual history of humanity: the emergence of modern natural science, as a consequence of two revolutions that occurred without interruption: the Copernican Revolution, which completely overturned the current model of the universe, and the mechanistic revolution, which opened the door to an in-depth understanding of natural processes. Among the men who brought about that giant leap forward, four figures of the greatest magnitude stand out: Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes and Newton. There were, however, many others who were on their coattails in terms of originality and genius. This book explores the world of ideas and values that formed and shaped that incomparable feat.

During the 18th century the rising science came of age. Across Europe, academies began to proliferate that, for the first time, gave a professional status to the study of nature. Even universities gradually began to abandon their reluctance. Physics, astronomy and natural history become fashionable: the idle classes of society advocate and cultivate them as hobbies. In the meantime, a process of secularisation began, and philosophers often came into conflict with theologians. Scientists, who were in the process of achieving full independence, claimed their autonomy and were often wary of the radicalism of ideologues, which did not mean that they were indifferent to the great questions of existence. This volume presents the worldview held by the most prominent researchers of the time.

During the 19th century philosophy entered a phase of dissolution and decadence, while the new science of nature experienced the most brilliant stage of its history. A plethora of mathematicians expanded both pure and applied mathematics to unimagined limits. Chemistry, as a newly constituted science, not only expanded, but also contributed powerfully to progress in related branches of research. Physics developed electromagnetic theory, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, establishing itself as a paradigm of secure and comprehensive knowledge. Biology reached a previously unknown theoretical maturity with Darwin and Mendel. Engineers and inventors sprang up everywhere, completely transforming the face of the planet. Science, in short, became humanity’s most powerful asset. How did the protagonists of those discoveries address the big questions that confronted them, not as scientists, but as human beings? This book is about the answers given by the most select group of them.

The usual task of philosophy is to answer questions concerning the frontiers of knowledge, the meaning of existence, the principles of human action or social coexistence. In the twentieth century, however, philosophers adopted a more cautious attitude, sought more cryptic forms of expression and sought to achieve greater levels of rigour in exchange for curtailing their ambitions. As far as the ultimate questions are concerned, scientists have often compensated for this regress. Many of them have dared to speculate on such controversial issues as the origin of the universe and the destiny of man. They have done so as the culmination of more specific and empirical research, in the context of highly popularised writings, autobiographical texts, essays, speeches and conferences. This book compiles, presents and critiques the worldview of 39 authors chosen from among the most relevant contemporary scientists in all fields of research.

Cajal’s Neuronal Forest: Science and Art is a testament to the natural beauty found in science. Despite the common misconception that the drawings of Cajal and other scientists of the time are pieces of art, these drawings are in fact copies of histological preparations and contributed greatly to the discoveries made in the field of neuroscience. This book is a gem in any library, whether serving as a medical history or a gallery of stunning sketches.