Abdelkader Souifi, Institut des Nanotechnologies de Lyon, France
The role of nano-technologists for environmental issues
In the last decade, high efforts are devoted to add new functionalities in electronics digital systems. In this direction, wireless sensor networks are for example developed for monitoring air quality based on miniaturized gas sensors systems 1 . Today, this domain is becoming even more relevant with the emergence of sensing scenarios for Internet-of-Things nodes. Smart Systems in the Era of Pervasive Internet proposed by Harbor Research 2 is defined as a fusion of computing, communication and sensing. In such concept, people, devices, sensors and businesses are connected and able to interact together. The leading markets for smart sensing systems include: Cell phones, Health monitoring devices, Smart grid infrastructure, Automotive, IT and Industrial systems. Smart business will enable collective awareness, creativity and better decision making capabilities, driving the largest growth opportunity in the history of business. In this context, several organizations have a vision for a continued growth to the production of trillion(s) sensors per year by 2022 3. After a presentation of recent advances on “smart sensors” for health and environmental issues, we will open the discussion on the role the nano-technologists for environmental issues in the context of Internet-of- Everything’s. (1 J.K. Hart, K. Martinez, Environmental sensor network: a revolution in the earth system science? Earth Sci. Rev. 78, 2006, pp. 177–191; 2 http://www.harborresearch.com/Home.htm; 3 Trillion Sensor Universe, iNEMI Spring Member Meeting and Webinar Berkeley, CA, April 2, 2013).
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Alexei Krouglov, RSUH, Moscow
Alexander von Humboldts physische Geographie im Abschnitt über Russland (full paper here)
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Ana Luisa Casseb, Law School, University of Porto
Solidariedade: um conceito cosmopolita (?)
A presente comunicação tem como objetivo geral analisar três conceções acerca do conceito de solidariedade, conceções essas que tem suas raízes nos campos da filosofia política e da teoria social. Por objetivo específico pretendemos refletir sobre os aspetos cosmopolitas de cada uma dessas conceções. A problemática levantada em torno destes objetivos dirige-se a seguinte questão: o conceito de solidariedade compreende necessariamente um nível de cosmopolitismo intrínseco? Para responder essa questão, revisitaremos as origens do conceito de solidariedade no direito romano e do conceito de cosmopolitismo na filosofia moderna, especialmente no pensamento kantiano. Em nossas considerações finais, faremos algumas reflexões sobre o papel desempenhado pela solidariedade no interior das comunidades políticas contemporâneas.
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Anabela Leão, University of Lisbon
Justiça, hospitalidade, cosmopolitismo(s).
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Armando Marques Guedes, NOVA Law School, NOVA University of Lisbon
Humboldt and anthropology
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Bernhard Jakl, Universität des Saarlandes, Lehrstuhl für Bürgerliches Recht, Handels- und Wirtschaftsrecht, Internationales Privatrecht und Rechtsvergleichung, Germany
Ein „Newton des Grashalms?“ - Überlegungen zur künstlichen Intelligenz
Utopien und Dystopien zu Fragen des Umgangs mit technischen Errungenschaften nehmen gerade im Bereich der Künstlichen Intelligenz zu. Sie kreisen um die Ängste und Hoffnungen, die mit der Verselbstständigung menschlicher Schöpfungen einhergehen. Teils wird sogar der Eindruck erweckt, dass Systeme Künstlicher Intelligenz demnächst selbst so intelligent, empfindsam, leistungsfähig oder gar leistungsfähiger sind wie menschliche Intelligenz. Der Vortrag greift auf einen umfassenden Organismusbegriff im Sinne von Kants "Kritik der Urteilskraft" für eine Klärung des Begriffs menschlicher Schöpfungen zurück und beleuchtet davon ausgehend unterschiedliche Möglichkeiten, Phänomene der Natur und Technik intellektuell als Teil der ganzen menschlichen Lebenswelt zu durchdringen.
Bethania Assy, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
Amerindian perspectivist multiculturalism and shamanic cosmopolitanism in Viveiros de Castro
Viveiros de Castros’ Amerindian anthropology stands at the core of a practical-theory of a permanent decolonization of thinking. The conceptual scheme available in Amerindian perspectivism and multinaturalism, if taken seriously, much more than simply reversing the traditional boundary between nature and culture, proposes to problematize the constitutive asymmetries of each particular point of view. The experience of thought made possible by the anthropology of the Amerindian peoples allows us not simply to rethink the relationship between humans and nonhumans. Amerindian perspectivism presupposes that each entity sees itself (and its own) as human, while all others are considered nonhuman, following a logic of correspondence within predation relations (ie, jaguars would be humans among the jaguars, but predatory spirits for the peccary and so on following the contiguity of bodily differences). Multinaturalism is characterized by the affirmation of humanity (or culture) as a universal characteristic of all entities within the context of the predatory cosmopolitics, which would give theoretical support to the doctrine of animal clothing. Meaningful in this context is the position occupied by shamanism. Shamans, species of direct diplomats in this cosmopolitics in which humanity is universal, are beings capable of crossing the boundaries between human and non-human, assuming the specific perspectives of others in the task of self-determination by the Other. The cosmopolitics undertaken by shamans - species of preceptors of cosmic schematism - are capable of communicating and managing cross perspectives in ways that make them apprehensible.
Keywords: multinaturalism, cosmopolitics, decolonization, Viveiros de Castro
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Carola Häntsch, Universität Greifswald
Wilhelm von Humboldt – Persönlichkeit und Staat.
Wie Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) bewegt sich auch sein zwei Jahre älterer Bruder
Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) im ideengeschichtlichen Spannungsfeld von Aufklärung, Deutschem Idealismus, Klassik und Romantik. Wie sein Bruder ist auch Wilhelm bestrebt, die Welt in ihren vielfältigen und komplexen Zusammenhängen zu verstehen. Allerdings führen ihn seine Entdeckungsreisen eher in den historisch-politischen Kosmos und richtet sich seine Aufmerksamkeit vorrangig auf einen „Kosmos von Sprachen“. Auffällig ist jedoch, daß Wilhelm von Humboldt für deren Analyse Denk- und Begriffsmuster verwendet, wie sie sein Bruder für den natürlichen Kosmos entworfen hat (was hier nur angedeutet werden kann, im Einzelnen aber noch zu zeigen wäre). Mit einem ebenso ganzheitlichen Ansatz beschreibt er die Mannigfaltigkeit historisch-politischer und kommunikativ-sprachlicher Phänomene. Dieselbe Komplexität und fortlaufende Dynamik, die sein Bruder Alexander bevorzugt mit Blick auf den „Naturkosmos“ konstatiert, untersucht Wilhelm von Humboldt unter Rückgriff auf zahllose, dem natürlichen Kosmos entlehnte Analogien für das Politische und das Recht. Das soll im Folgenden zunächst am Geschichtsverständnis Wilhelm von Humboldts verdeutlicht und dann bis in seine frühen staats- und rechtsphilosophischen Entwürfe hinein verfolgt werden. Humboldt orientiert sich dabei in seinem Denken offensichtlich an Kantischen Grunddifferenzen (Natur und Freiheit, Moral und Recht) und der Kantischen Gründung des Politischen auf durchsetzbare Rechtsordnungen. Wie bei Kant liegt die besondere Betonung auf dem Individuum, der Persönlichkeit. Der Staat soll einzig dieFreiheit des Individuums, seine Entwicklung zu einer starken Persönlichkeit, gewährleisten.
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Carlos João Correia, Centre of Philosophy, University of Lisbon
The cosmopolitan significance of art
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Christian Ingo Lenz Dunker, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil
Justice and Hiper-Institucionalization in Lacanian Theory of Recognition
Contemporary theory of justice as fully compromised with institutionalization, and as far as this process produces a counter effect of exclusion of populations and individuals that are not able to perform institutionalized criteria of recognition (immigrants, illegal persons, aperids) we can detect a kind of a side-effect of exclusion inherent to the politics of legalization. This generates a kind of a determinacy suffering, inverting the concept of suffering of indeterminacy proposed by Axel Honneth. In this communication we try to show how lacanian theory of recognition can surpass this effect and contribute to a communitarian grammar of recognition in cosmopolitan context.
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Christopher Pollmann, Faculté de Droit, Metz, France
“My home is the planet”: The totalizing and monotonizing expansion of individual and collective human life
The aim of embracing the whole planet is not only a quest for knowledge, but also the ultimate step of spatial globalization. We ought to get conscious of the totalizing, if not totalitarian character of this « univocalization of the world » (Thomas Bauer). This process of long duration has two dimensions: first, globalization is the history of human migration and conquest. Second, it also indicates that human beings extend the spatial setting and the horizon of their individual and collective existence. The extension means that everyday-life and representations, confined in traditional societies to the location of birth for most of their members, are ‒ or have been ‒ progressively broadened to the region, the country, the continent and nowadays for a growing number of people to the whole planet. This “comprehensive absorption of the outside world in a fully calculated interior” which is the “world interior of capital” (Peter Sloterdijk) deserves some critical reflection on an ecological and a psycho-social level. Ecologically speaking, the continuous expansion of each individual’s life space implies an unprecedented surge in transportation, in consumption of resources, in pollutions... The psycho-social consequences ‒ weakening of human beings’ necessary territorial roots, their mental overburdening by the multiplicity of solicitations, further homogenization of language and culture ‒ are more difficult to evaluate. Notwithstanding transhumanist phantasms, the organic dimension of life limits human beings’ capacity to adapt and to avoid something like an individual and collective depression, nervous breakdown or outburst of fury…
Keywords: globalization, capitalism, univocalization, alienation, depression.
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Cristina Queiroz, NOVA Law Faculty, NOVA University of Lisbon
Cosmopolitismo: Justiça, Democracia e Cidadania sem fronteiras: Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Alexander v. Humboldt (1769-1859) e Hans Kelsen (1881-1973)
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Damien Ehrhardt, Université d’Évry & Hélène Fleury, Paris-Saclay
Science and ‘transareality’ in Humboldt’s cosmos
As an Enlightenment scientist, Alexander von Humboldt was continually observing, measuring, and describing the world. If he made major discoveries, nowadays he is mostly recognized as a father of biodiversity and a figure of interculturality and interdisciplinarity. The Humboldtian vision of the cosmos, characterized by its unity in diversity, is close to our ecological and planetary thought. His philosophy is based on the main currents of thought of his time in the West (the Enlightenment and Naturphilosophy), but is taking also into account those of the American continent. During his journey to the new continent, Humboldt was developing an in-depth knowledge of the whole cultural and natural area. On his other trip to Russia and Central Asia, he became familiar with other regions of the world, although his knowledge was not as deep on the cultural and social levels than on the scientific one. His dream of India could never come true: so he did not rely his approach of this area on fieldwork, but on knowledge spread by his brother and other Sanskrit philologists. The situation would certainly have been very different if had had the opportunity to go there. But as a specialist of several natural and cultural areas that he studies from a comparative perspective, Humboldt may be considered as a representative of ‘transareality’, a notion combining Ottmar Ette’s ‘transarea’ and Spivak’s ‘planetarity’. Humboldt’s approach brings together diverse regions of the world, but also different fields of knowledge that generally do not find themselves unite: science and aesthetics, cosmopolitics, physical description of the world and geopoetics. In addition, actualization of Humboldt’s vision may be crucial for our own society facing the challenges of the planet.
Keywords: transreality, planetarity, geopoetics, cosmos
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Daniel Gomes, NOVA Law School, NOVA University of Lisbon
The role of the State and the Law regarding the long-standing and deeply rooted discrimination of Roma
"Roma people (also associated in English to another and less respectful name - gypsies) are victims of discrimination and rejection in different European states. As a result of a past characterized by persecutions, expulsions and attempts to eradicate or to assimilate, the processes of rejection and discrimination of Roma people are long-standing, deeply rooted and felt in multiple spheres and societal contexts. Based on those characteristics, such as its persistence, multifaceted character and generalized effects within society, Roma discrimination has been characterized as Anti-Gypsyism or Romaphobia. Among other features, Anti-Gypsyism is defined as a reality strongly influenced by state actions or omissions along the centuries. Acting differently in different periods, the State and the Law played and still play a determinant role regarding the guarantee of a treatment of equality equal regarding Roma, as it happens with other groups of people. Thus, from an analysis of the measures and practices adopted in Portugal, we intend to discuss the role of the State and the Law in the perpetuation or denial of discrimination regarding Roma in Portugal".
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David Amaral, Centre of Philosophy, University of Lisbon
A crise do neoliberalismo como racionalidade política global e a invenção do futuro.
No âmbito temático da conferência, propõem-se a discussão filosófica do argumento que evidencia a necessidade da constituição de uma nova forma de racionalidade política global, como condição para a superação da insegurança existencial. Perante os problemas é necessário nova forma de governação baseada em tecnologias políticas de cooperação institucionalizada num sentido cosmopolita.
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Dirk Michael Hennrich, Centre of Philosophy, University of Lisbon
Landschaft oder Kosmos. Ein Beitrag zur Philosophie der Landschaft im Ausgang von Alexander von Humboldt.
Die geistig-naturwissenschaftliche Schau des Ganzen, die Humboldt mit seinem Lebenswerk, des Kosmos, als höchste zu erreichende Erkenntnis anstrebte, ist immer noch zutiefst in den Naturwissenschaften gegenwärtig. Diese unterhält und erzeugt zugleich ein soziales und ökonomisches System, das die Vereinheitlichung des Ganzen vorantreibt und auf polemische Weise alles Einzigartige ausschaltet. Zwar wird bei Humboldt und bei vielen seiner Zeitgenossen, die geistig-naturwissenschaftliche Schau von der landschaftlich-ästhetischen Schau begleitet, sie bleibt dabei aber immer als übergeordnete Theorie bestehen. Dabei gilt es die Landschaft nicht allein ästhetisch zu erfahren, sondern aisthesisch, mit allen Sinnen, im Durchgang durch die Landschaft und die Landschaft immer verstanden als je individuelle Lebensform. Humboldts Natur, der Gegenstand seiner ästhetischen und wissenschaftlichen Gesamtbetrachtung, ist nicht mehr vorhanden. Eine andere Natur und eine andere Landschaftserfahrung beherrscht die Gegenwart, ihre Vereinheitlichung und Ihre Gleichschaltung, aber auch ihre eigentliche Komposition in Betrachtung der Hyperphänomene, die auf globaler Ebene alle Landschaften der Erde beeinflussen. Von einer Einheit des Ganzen kann vielleicht bald nicht mehr gesprochen werden, denn was sich zeigt, ist eine Vereinheitlichung des Ganzen. Eine direkte leibliche Landschaftserfahrung, eine Rückgewinnung der Vielseitigkeit der Sinne im Zeitalter der Monopolisierung der Sinne durch das Auge, wäre als Grundpfeiler der Erziehung notwendig. Damit sich eine sinnvolle Sorge um die natürlichen Erscheinungen, um die Landschaften als umfassende Lebensformen und als Garanten der globalen Biodiversität, ausbreiten kann.
Keywords: Humboldt, Kosmos, Landschaft, Leib, Aisthesis, Erziehung.
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Eduardo Joao Pedro Kadyamosiko, Department of Philosophy, University of Lisbon
O diálogo intercultural e os desafios do ideal cosmopolita de Kwame A. Appiah
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Elena S. Soboleva (H), Kunst Kamera, Russia
From Timor to Brazil with the support of the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
In 1860 the Imperial Academy of Science in St.-Petersburg (Russia) immediately endorsed the just established in Berlin (Prussia) the Humboldt-Stiftung with the amount of 1000 silver thalers. In the late XIXth century Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung supported several scientific expeditions. Some of the travelers (Otto Finsch, Karl von Steinen, Georg Thilenius) shared their ethnographical collections with specialized museums, including the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (or MAE) in St.-Petersburg. The author as a Humboldt-Stiftung scholar could visit and study many ethnographic collections from different luzophonic countries, to meet the Portuguese speaking people in many regions of Asia. The Timorese collections were discovered in many European and American museums, the ones in Moscow date back to 1862. In 2019 images of some Timorese items from the MAE were on display at the traveling exhibition in the Timor Leste. The art products from the Portuguese Asia are being identified in many Russian art museums. The elements of the Portuguese heritage in South and East Asia were revealed in the collections of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, as well as in some other institutions of the Russian Academy of Science. The materials of the First and Second Russian scientific expeditions to Brazil are now spread between many museums and archives. The objects collected by Georg Langsdorff (1821-1828) and Heinrich Manizer (1914-1915) for Russia are analogous to the ones they donated to the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, that makes it possible to reconstruct the structure of these collections lost in the fire in 2018. The Brazilian Diary of Heinrich Manizer who stayed with the Indios Botocudos about eight months is published in full in Russian by the MAE (Soboleva, 2016).
Keywords: Ethnography, history, museology, Russia, Lusophony
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Fernando M. F. Silva, Centre of Philosophy, University of Lisbon
Kant on the Concept of Ideal
Plato’s proposition of a possible union between the finite and the infinite, as it is found in Timaeus, would traverse the whole of the history of Western philosophy, therein assuming different shapes and hence subjecting itself to several commentaries. The form it assumes in Kant’s epoch and in epochs immediately subsequent is that of the rigid possibility (or impossibility) of the human being cognizing the absolute; or, in other words, the question of the attainability (or not) of the ideal. Apparently oscillating between the two, Kant, we shall attempt to demonstrate, now denies the constitutive dimension of the ideal, now accepts it, according to the domain of thought; which seems to render evident the possibility of a third orientation in this problem. Hence, we aim at showing as explicitly as possible this very duality; and, on the other hand, at elucidating how this duality is merely apparent: how, instead, Kant deliberately uses it in order
Keywords: Kant, Rational Cosmology, Empirical Cosmology, Geography, Anthropology
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Gonçalo Marcelo, CECH, University of Coimbra / Católica Porto Business School
Transnational justice, recognition and the challenge of migration
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Irene Maria Portela, IPCA, Portugal
Os espaços, a justiça e a cidadania
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Jan Marschelke, University of Regensburg
From A v. Humboldt to Google: Knowledge, Power and Collectivities
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of A. v. Humboldt divides the German commentators in two camps. On the one hand those praising his critical attitude towards slavery and colonialism, his transdisciplinary thinking and academic networking, his ideal of sharing knowledge and respect for local expertise. On the other hand those pointing to the fact that his work had been enabled by imperial powers like the Spanish Crown craving for knowledge usable for better administering and exploiting its colonial possessions. Knowledge and power – the well-known Foucauldian duo – are cornerstones of this discussion and will serve as analytical tools to link Humboldt to a very different and contemporary kind of knowledge-producing enterprise as best represented by Google: big data corporations. But there will be a third trajectory: collectivity. The “age of surveillance capitalism” (S. Zuboff) which transforms societies into “societies of singularities” (A. Reckwitz) comes with a new social logic of “doing collectivity”, of classifying human beings and organizing knowledge about them.
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Jeovet Baca Virignia, NOVA Law School, NOVA University of Lisbon
A Ordem Moral Moderna
A imagem da sociedade é a de indivíduos que chegam a instituir uma entidade política sobre certo fundo moral preexistente e com certos objetivos em vista. O fundo moral de direitos naturais; as pessoas têm já entre si algumas obrigações morais. Os fins perseguidos são certos benefícios comuns, dos quais o mais importante é a segurança. Neste tema abordaremos os problemas da ética atual e a sua luta constante com as leis positivas que são aprovadas nos diversos parlamentos e como esses acontecimentos estão a mudar a nossa perspetiva de ver o mundo e a convivência do ser humano dentro da sociedade.
Keywords: Identidade Social, Moral, Ética, Direitos Civis, Política.
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João Carlos Loureiro, Law School, University of Coimbra
Constitutionalism: Some remarks following the trail of Alexander von Humboldt.
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João da Motta Guedes, NOVA Law School, NOVA University of Lisbon
The aesthetics of the political image: on the paintings of Rugendas following the steps of Humboldt
The present communication aims to present some of Rugendas paintings that were made on his expeditions through Latin America (XIX century), explaining how his works hold a juridical-political meaning. Furthermore, in this presentation there will be developed the pictorial thematics that are object of Rugendas paintings, namely, regarding the canvas that illustrate various episodes of the social and colonial history of Latin America, redirecting such themes to the confrontation between natives and europeans, and giving alert to severe violations of Human Rights
Lili Pontinta, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brasil
Considerações sobre a concepção do homem selvagem em Rousseau e Humboldt: distanciamento e proximidade
Neste texto pretende-se examinar a concepção do homem selvagem segundo Rousseau e Humboldt. Examinar-se-á precisamente algumas diferenças e semelhanças entre ambos sobre o assunto. De um lado, a ideia do selvagem como um ser “amoral”, com pouco desenvolvimento das faculdades do espírito e, portanto, mais dependente da natureza do que de sua produção de Rousseau não é compartilhada por Humboldt. Para este, o modo de viver do selvagem não é dado pela natureza, mas cultivado por ele. De outro lado, o estudo pormenorizado das particularidades dos homens e seus modos distintos de viver e a ideia do homem selvagem desenvolvida de forma não pejorativa une os dois, distanciando-os assim da grande parte dos intelectuais europeus dos séculos XVII e XVIII. Esta investigação mostraria que, se Rousseau avançou muito em seu estudo sobre diferenças entre povos em relação à sua época, como sustenta acertadamente Lévi-Strauss, para quem o genebrino é considerado o fundador da etnologia, o pensamento de Humboldt parece contribuir muito para esse estudo, na medida em que não apenas reconhece diferenças entre os homens, mas também não reduz o modo de viver do selvagem à dependência da natureza. Não obstante haver diferença entre ambos, pode-se dizer que suas convergências contribuem para investigar diferenças entre povos sem desqualificar características particulares de alguns.
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Luís Braga Campos (H) Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon
On the combined teaching of exact science and modern technology (full paper here)
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Luísa Neto, Law School, University of Porto
Discussão em torno da actualização da tríade liberal
Propõe-se reequacionar os critérios de inclusão ou exclusão da polis, num momento em que na senda inversa de Foucault, alguns autores e defendem hodiernamente que o Estado se vê “reduzido à função biopolítica de criação das condições mínimas de salubridade necessárias à existência da vida biológica”. Se a pessoa se encontra mediatizada pelo contrato social, isto é, pela sociedade, de forma a integrar o estado de cidadania, a “democracia ética” implica no entanto equacionar os problemas do mal estar do constitucionalismo a que alude Gomes Canotilho. Ora, se a democracia é forma perfectível e não perfeita, e se a procedimentalização substantiva que a mesma encerra justifica que qualquer consenso seja por natureza provisório – ou seja, nestes termos, uma forma de ‘incerteza institucionalizada’ – importa equacionar os modos de integração dos hodiernos ‘wicked problems’, sob pena da anomia e da juridificação da excepção e da emergência. Parece-nos que podemos identificar um pilar de (re)construção da cidadania que implica um diálogo com os ‘ídolos’’, id est, uma discussão sobre os pressupostos de actualização da tríade liberal ‘liberdade, igualdade, fraternidade’, coeva da revolução francesa, porventura hoje transmutada na proposta ‘autonomia, vulnerabilidade, solidariedade’. A explicitação de tal iter, em passos circunstanciados (ergo, ‘da liberdade à autonomia’, ‘da igualdade à vulnerabilidade’, ‘da fraternidade à solidariedade’) faz emergir um sujeito não unidimensionalmente perspectivado enquanto cidadão, que reclama do Estado um dever de cuidado como promoção da capacitação. É a relevância da atenção ao outro - e do outro que é (apenas aparentemente) dissemelhante que deve centrar a discussão da reconversão da tríade liberal ‘liberdade, igualdade, fraternidade’.
Keywords: autonomia, vulnerabilidade, solidariedade
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Lutz Cleemann (H) Deutsche Gesellschaft der Humboldtianer
Presentation of the Deutsche Gesellschaft der Humboldtianer
The “Deutsche Gesellschaft der Humboldtianer“ provides a forum for former Feodor-Lynen-
and Humboldt-Fellows, active Humboldt-Fellows in Germany, hosts and members of selection commitees of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation as well as individuals with strong relationship to the AvH-Foundation with the aim to 1. maintain the personal contact of the alumni beyond the scholarship phase, 2. intensify the exchange with each other and 4. facilitate mutual assistance in the integration of foreign and reintegration of German Humboldtians. 5. provide advice for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation from the perspective of alumni and 6.deal with modern society issues and its current changes 7. get into dialogue with other Humboldt Associations The regional organization and regional and nationwide activities will be presented (full presentation here).
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Maria Cristina Hermida Del Llano (H), Law School, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
The fight against racial discrimination of Roma in Europe through non-governmental organizations
Here we examine the decisive role that non-governmental organizations play in fulfilling the sustainable development goals, and more specifically, in the sphere of the fight against racial discrimination of Roma in Europe. I will try to show how non-governmental organizations, thanks to the close relationship that they have with Roma communities, constitute key actors in the fight against discrimination of these groups. In fact, by being able to work as partners with other public and private entities, non-governmental organizations become strategic partners in the development of programs with Roma communities, above all at the local level, cognizant of the importance local actions have for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Maria Norberta de Pinho, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa
Membrane Technology for the Recovery of Water and Added Value Products in Wine and Cork Industries
In the last years, several studies have been carried out to develop processes for by-products recovery from a myriad of agro-industrial wastes (1-10). Pressure-driven membrane processes play a central role in the recovery of process water and added-value products. Two case studies in the cork and wine industries are presented. The cork processing industry generates wastewaters with low biodegradability and with a very complex mixture of vegetal extracts covering a wide range of molecular weights and very often presenting colloidal behavior. Membrane processes, namely Ultrafiltration (UF) and Nanofiltration (NF), are used to fractionate high molecular weight polyphenols and low molecular weight tannins. The recovered tannins are used as tanning agents. In wine producing countries, large volumes of effluents are generated during the grape harvest and racking periods, i.e., in just 3–4 months over the year. Nevertheless, winery effluents are rich in added-value compounds, like polyphenols and polysaccharides. These effluents are a cheap and attractive source for the recovery of these natural compounds. An integrated membrane process of microfiltration (MF), UF and NF is proposed for the treatment of the second racking winery effluents, aiming the recovery of polysaccharides, polyphenols and process water.
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Maria Rosa Paiva, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon
Alexander von Humboldt`s vision on ecology and sustainability
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Mariko Mitsuyu, Polenz/Leipzig
Humboldt and Me: Autobiographical Reflections of a Pianist
In 1981, when I came to Germany as an Alexander von Humboldt scholar to conduct electrophysiological research in Bad Nauheim, I had little idea who the man behind the Foundation’s name was. As an eye doctor in Japan I had heard nothing about him. Before my fellowship expired, I decided to remain in Germany and pursue a different career as a classical pianist. 38 years later I am still based in Germany, although I often visit Japan and give recitals there. As a member of the Halle-Leipzig branch of the German Humboldt Club, I have attended meetings at which Humboldt’s name was mentioned, especially in connection with his 250th birthday. This has led me to realise how much we have in common, despite my having grown up two centuries later than him in a part of the world he never visited. In my presentation I would like to explain why and how I changed my profession, and also the fundamental meaning which The Humboldt Foundation and, indirectly, Alexander von Humboldt himself have played in my life.
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Mateus Schweter, NOVA Law School, NOVA University of Lisbon
O pluralismo jurídico e a mediação de conflitos
Este estudo visa tratar a origem do paradigma estatalista de direito, em específico no Brasil, a crise neste paradigma, com um Poder Judiciário que não possui a necessária efetividade na sociedade e o pluralismo jurídico como uma alternativa possível, por meio de acesso à justiça com modos alternativos de resolução de conflitos, como a mediação. São utilizados como base os estudos de Antônio Carlos Wolkmer e António Manuel Hespanha./This study aims to address the origin of the stateist paradigm of law, specifically in Brazil, the crisis in this paradigm, with a judiciary that doesn't have the necessary ffectiveness in society and legal pluralism as a possible alternative, through access to justice with alternative modes of conflict resolution, such as mediation. The studies by Antonio Carlos Wolkmer and António Manuel Hespanha are used as a base.
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Nuno Miguel Proença, NOVA University of Lisbon
The strata of the will and the community of the living in a metaphysics of music
If it is true that music is an unconscious exercise in arithmetic in which the mind does not know it is counting, as Leibniz wrote, it is even more true, according to Schopenhauer, to say that music is an unconscious exercise in metaphysics in which the mind does not know it is philosophizing. Although the universality of music has something in common with the universality of concepts, its universality is not one of abstraction, even though melodies, like universal concepts, are an abstraction from reality. Likewise concepts, melodies find particular cases in the world of particular things, but unlike concepts, that contain only the forms abstracted from perception, music gives us access to the innermost kernel preceding all forms, it puts us in immediate contact with the heart of things, not with their stripped-off outer shell. In other words, according to the author of The World as Will and Representation, if concepts are a fruit of the activity of understanding, music comes from an immediate knowledge of the inner nature of the world unknown to the faculty of reason. If we succeeded in giving a perfectly accurate and complete explanation of music, it would be a detailed repetition in concepts of what music expresses immediately. By doing so, we would be explaining the whole world, as it is grasped by music, and would hence obtain the true philosophy. Yet, philosophy can only lead to the unity of the plurality by the indirect and sometimes erroneous path of concepts, while music is a direct access to the cosmic dimension of the will, and therefore grasps the whole world immediately, without any possible error resulting from the imprecision of words. In his metaphysics, for which music gives universalia ante rem, Schopenhauer establishes a surprising analogy between the relationships within the instruments of the orchestra and the world of phenomena. Through the feelings and the emotions produced by rhythmic and melodic movements, we can grasp the essence of the whole world, as it is embodied by the plurality of the living. Such grasp should allow us to understand universal interdependence and the continuity spanning from inorganic phenomena to human liberty.
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Nguyen Quy Dao, Chemistry, Ecole Centrale de Paris,
The Art of Calligraphy in the Far-East
Calligraphy, etymologically speaking, means beautiful handwriting, the art of producing fine written characters. Almost every civilization where writing exists has developed the art of calligraphy. In the West, it was practised by copyist monks or great calligraphers working in the service of sovereigns and the aristocracy. In the Middle-East, it is also evolved into a decorative art. Fine engraved inscriptions can be found on the pediments of religious and historical buildings. As for the Far-East, there, along with the beauty of the writing, calligraphy also demands the complete presence of the artist, and personifies him. Thus, it is truly an art because it embodies both the artist and his personality, just like the works of a painter, sculptor, poet or writer. In this talk, we shall just be looking at the calligraphy of Far-East and at works from China, Japan and Vietnam.
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Oliver Eberl, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Natur und Wildnis - vor und nach Humboldt
Lange Zeit bevor der Begriff der Wildnis im deutschen Sprachschatz auftauchte, war die unbezähmbare Natur in der Betrachtung der Philosophie mit dem ungezähmten Menschen verknüpft. Als im 15. Jahrhundert schließlich die „wiltnis“ im Deutschen Verwendung fand, war dieser Begriff mit der Idee eines „wilden Mannes“, der tief in den Wäldern sein gottloses, einsames Leben führt, verbunden. Diese Vorstellung schließlich wurde aus Europa mitgenommen und auf die Menschen Amerikas übertragen, die zum Teil ebenfalls in Wäldern wohnten und staatenlos lebten. Natur und Wildheit des Menschen bildeten insofern eine Einheit und konnten beide als gefährlich und abscheulich gebrandmarkt werden. Auch die Aufklärung konnte dieses Bild des natürlichen Menschen nicht überwinden, so sehr Rousseau auch gegen Hobbes anschrieb. Kant wollte nicht so weit gehen wie Herder und den Müßiggang der Insulaner preisen. Erst Humboldt ermöglichte mit seiner angstfreien und vorurteilslosen Betrachtung der Natur die Anerkennung der „Wildnis“ als von eigenem Wert. Er dehnte den kosmopolitischen Blick der Aufklärung somit über Menschen hinaus auf die unbelebte Natur aus. Humboldt bereitete so nicht nur die Betrachtung der Natur als bewundernswerte und schutzwürdige „Wildnis“ vor, sondern auch eine neue Beziehung des Menschen zur Natur, die dem Menschen seine „Wildheit“ als ein zu wertschätzendes Erbe zu Bewusstsein bringt.
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Oliver Schlaudt, Philosophisches Seminar der Universität Heidelberg
Alexander von Humboldt, anthropologist? A Foucauldian reading of his works
Looking on what Alexander von Humbold had to say about anthropological questions, it is striking to see that he devoted much more space to man as considering nature than to man considered as a part of nature. Does this mean that von Humboldt's anthropology can be classified as "modern" in the Foucauldian sense, i.e. based on a notion of man as a "doublet empirico-transcendantal"? The question is difficult to answer, an I will provide in my talk evidence both for and against an affirmative answer. It seems that, on a programmatic level, Alexander von Humboldt thought of anthropology as a reflective project, but believed this programme to have been achieved rather in his brother Wilhelm's work! (full paper here)
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Paula Ferreira (H), Universidade de Aveiro
Bio-based materials: preserving Humboldt’s Nature
Humboldt is known for his challenging way of thinking and remarkable observations on the need for an approach to science that could account for the harmony of nature. In CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials of the University of Aveiro, the research is focused on searching ways of preserving Humboldt’s Nature, through the development of sustainable bio-based materials. Here, it will be presented and discussed the investigation on the design of biomaterials starting from polysaccharides recovered from agro-food wastes targeting food packaging, biomedical devices, energy generators and other functional applications.
Keywords: Biomaterials, Circular economy, bioplastics, devices, functional materials
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Paulo de Brito (Law School, Universidade Lusófona do Porto) Is Cosmopolinatism at risk?
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Paulo Jesus, Centre of Philosophy, University of Lisbon
Sympathy and Love between Psychodynamics and Phenomenology
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Pedro Tiago Fereira, Centre of Philosophy, University of Lisbon
A Constitution to grasp the whole world
In the early modern period, cosmopolitan political projects were tied to a concern which was very prevalent at the time, namely the possibility of ending war for all time thereby achieving, in Kant’s famous dictum, “perpetual peace.” Armed conflict remains a problematic issue in the 21st century, but it no longer spearheads in an exclusive fashion cosmopolitan projects aimed at reaching political, legal and social cohesion on a worldwide scale. Back in the 18th century, when philosophers such as the Abbé St. Pierre and Kant submitted proposals of a cosmopolitan bent, their ideas were very much influenced by the circumstances of their time. Armed conflict loomed large, had a perennial air about it and seemed to exist everywhere; it was, moreover, counterproductive for commerce, whose globalizing trend, nowadays firmly established, was starting to take roots in the 18th century. Given these circumstances, neither St. Pierre nor Kant, nor any other influential writers of the period, had in mind the possibility of building a world state close to the one later proposed by Hans Morgenthau, in the 1940’s, with governing bodies such as legislature, executive and courts, something which could only be made possible by transferring the sovereign power of every individual state to the world state. In the early modern period, Bodinian conceptions of sovereignty precluded such a hypothesis. The only viable alternative to the early modern period’s status quo would be the creation of permanent alliances through what St. Pierre and Kant termed “federations” of states. The impossibility of building a world state, with coercive powers based on the rule of law and complete with the institutions that characterize contemporary states still existed, in fact, in Morgenthau’s time, which is why this author acknowledges that the idea of a world state, though conceptually appropriate to end all armed conflict forever, would be pragmatically impossible to implement until the advent of what he called “world public opinion.” Contemporary reality is, however, rather different from the early modern period and even from the immediate post-World War II period. Armed conflict is still a major issue, but it is not the only problem contemporary societies have to face. If, 200 years ago, an alliance through a federation of states which would retain their individual sovereignty seemed adequate to achieve perpetual peace, nowadays nothing less than a fully-fledged constitutional world state seems proper or even desirable to successfully tackle issues such as global warming, terrorism, or the gradual encroachment of economic and financial conglomerates on the rights pf citizens. In other words, wars between states are not the only factor that stops us from achieving not only perpetual peace, but also a state of perpetual justice conducive to human flourishing. This does not mean, however, that individual states, such as we now know them, should cease to exist. What is necessary is to rethink the concept of “sovereignty.” Must sovereignty be unified and indivisible? Is it not possible to think of sovereignty as something to be shared between individual states and a world state with the aim of resolving conflicts, whether political, legal, social or economic exclusively through the rule of law? Some steps have been taken in this direction, as the example of the European Union very aptly shows. This presentation shall explore whether humankind and its institutions are ready to take further steps.
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Peter König, Philosophy, University of Heidelberg
Die ästhetische Artikulation des Naturgenusses bei Alexander von Humboldt
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Philippe Lacour (H), Department of Philosophy, University of Brasilia, What kind of world do the French yellow vests want to grasp?"
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Rafael Salatini, International Relations, UNESP, Brazil
Cosmopolitismo e democracia
Abordo a relação entre cosmopolitismo, entendido como doutrina da defesa dos direitos fundamentais dos cidadãos estrangeiros, e democracia, entendida como forma de governo baseada na liberdade e igualdade dos cidadãos, analisando como essa temática se desenvolveu na antiguidade, quando os direitos dos estrangeiros eram escassos, e na modernidade, quando os direitos dos estrangeiros se tornaram crescentes.
Keywords: cosmopolitismo; democracia; estrangeiros; direitos fundamentais; constitucionalismo
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Raquel Gonçalves, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade do Porto
Is there a future for cell therapies to low back pain?
Low back pain is the leader disorder in years lived with disability in western countries. It is a multifactorial disorder affecting patients’ daily life since an early age, being one of the major economic burdens to healthcare systems worldwide. Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is pointed as the main cause of low back pain. This process occurs naturally with aging and is characterized by loss of hydration, changes at the cellular and molecular level and un unbalanced matrix remodelling. In the last years, stem cell-based therapies for low back pain and IVD degeneration have been emerged, but with controversial results in the few human clinical trials already performed. Human IVD degeneration is often studied using 2D cultures of IVD cells or animal models which lack the biped position and have an increased regenerative capacity. This presentation will bring an overview of the field of cell therapies for low back pain and give new insights on the role of stem cells to IVD degeneration as well as in more advanced models of human IVD degenerat
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Ricardo Belo de Morais, NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal
On the streets of Fernando Pessoa
“On the streets of Fernando Pessoa” is a literary walking tour through the streets of Lisbon wherein Fernando Pessoa most defined his life. The walking tour is enhanced by multimedia elements, displayed on a tablet, and takes the group members to the streets and squares of Lisbon's Chiado, Carmo, Rossio and Downtown areas, whilst discovering the focal points of Fernando Pessoa’s life and work, in the heart of the city he called his home. Group members will get to know Pessoa’s birthplace; the cafés and bookshops he frequented; the location of the most important offices he worked for; and even the address where he met Ophélia, the only woman who was able to capture his love.
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Sara Fernandes, Department of Philosophy, University of Lisbon
Somos artificializáveis? Origens culturais da neuropotenciação tecnológica humana
Os progressos notáveis das neurociências e da biotecnologia nos últimos tempos, verificados especialmente desde a década do cérebro, tornaram a neuropotenciação e o seu possível impacto na identidade pessoal um domínio importante de reflexão filosófica. A neuropotenciação é geralmente entendida como qualquer intervenção (natural, social ou tecnológica) no cérebro que visa melhorar capacidades (físicas ou psicológicas) em pessoas consideradas saudáveis, por exemplo, melhor desempenho intelectual, maior flexibilidade, ou até maior felicidade. Com a neuropotenciação estamos a referir-nos a qualquer técnica utilizada para aperfeiçoar capacidades humanas, sem um fim terapêutico ou da restauração da saúde; importa clarificar que não consiste em tratar ou curar um estado de doença, mas em elevar, incrementar o estado (já alcançado) de saúde. Apesar dos avanços científicos e biotecnológicos serem recentes no que diz respeito à potenciação humana, este trabalho procurará sustentar que o desejo de melhoramento humano não é recente, pois caracteriza a própria natureza humana e a civilização ocidental, tendo as suas raízes culturais ocidentais traçadas e identificadas, desde, pelo menos, a civilização grega. Apresentaremos algumas obras de ficção (mitos gregos, literatura e filmes), que pertencendo a séculos bastante diferenciados, são capazes de revelar este sonho de aperfeiçoamento humano ao longo dos tempos, bem como dos dilemas antropológicos e éticos que necessariamente colocam. Levantamos, por isso, a hipótese de a Ciência e a Tecnologia, no que diz respeito à neuropotenciação, procurarem concretizar o sonho de aperfeiçoamento, de superação dos limites biológicos bem presente no imaginário cultural ocidental. É famosa a frase de Oscar Wilde «a vida imita a arte, mais do que a arte imita a vida».1 No mesmo sentido afirmaríamos que a Ciência imita certas formas de Arte (a narrativa ou ficcional), pela capacidade da criação artística inovar no tempo, por criar novos horizontes à investigação e à tecnologia, e a Ciência se encontrar assim ao seu serviço. (1 No original: «Life imitates art far more than Art imitates life. […] Life holds the mirror up to Art, and either reproduces some strange type imagined by painter or sculptor, or realizes in fact what has been dreamed in fiction.» WILDE 1905: 39). Ou ainda: «Literature always antecipates life. It does not copy it, but moulds it to its purposes.» (WILDE 1905: 35) Finalmente, salientaremos que o impacto da ciência nas sociedades ocidentais contemporâneas, a sua emergente autoridade, permite observar a emergência de uma nova tentativa de fundamentação da identidade pessoal a partir de dois domínios em crescente evolução, sobretudo, desde finais do século XX, a genética e as neurociências. Por razões que explicitaremos, centrar-nos-emos, em especial, nas neurociências e iremos evidenciar, a partir da obra marcante da história da psiquiatria, Listening to Prozac, de Peter D. Kramer, a tendência deste domínio em formar uma neurobiologia da identidade pessoal, em fundamentar neuralmente um conceito filosófico ou, noutros termos, em reduzi-lo a funções cerebrais. Recorrendo ao pensamento do filósofo Paul Ricoeur e a outros autores contemporâneos da área da filosofia e da neuroética, procuraremos criticar a redução da identidade pessoal ao cérebro e sustentar que há dimensões da identidade pessoal não subsumíveis num discurso neurobiológico.
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Saskya Miranda Lopes, CES/UC e UESC-BR
Luisa de Pinho Vale, Centro de Estudos Sociais, Universidade de Coimbra
As pedagogias inscritas nos feminismos do sul não-imperial e a política de sustentabilidade capitalista: uma analise sobre a defensa do sistema terra
Vincular a economia à vida implica reconhecer a interdependência entre humanidade, sociedade e natureza; além da compreensão de que a vida humana e não-humana é finita e limitada. O capitalismo contemporâneo fomentou, em reiteradas edições de práticas patriarcais-coloniais, um eco-apartheid que inflige uma guerra permanente contra a terra, os povos e as democracias para impulsionar a acumulação do capital. Nesta perspectiva, as políticas de sustentabilidade capitalista não integram a teia da vida; ou seja, não respeitam, garantem ou protegem o pertencimento interconectado de toda vida – humana e não-humana - que necessita ser sustentada ética e responsavelmente para atender ao sistema Terra. Por isso afirmamos que o conceito de humanidade não pode representar exclusividade de direitos, mas sim devemos incluir para a possível realização humana, direitos para toda sorte de vida que coexiste em nosso planeta. Em resposta a esse arcabouço sistêmico desenvolvido no racionalismo instrumental moderno, analisaremos como as pedagogias dos feminismos do Sul não-imperial sustentam, por um lado, a inexistência de um abismo ontológico entre seres humanos e natureza. E por outro lado, elas demonstram a indivisibilidade da vida, assim como, a coexistência de outras epistemologias e práticas de organização socioeconômica e política que abrem perspectivas capazes de fraturar as linhas abissais divisoras da realidade do mundo e, assim, realizarem a efetividade do direito de ser vivente e uma política pela vida. Por isso, afirmamos que as alternativas são sempre situadas. Refletiremos, assim, sobre as experiências e os conhecimentos inscritos nas lutas engendradas pelas mulheres do sul marginalizado pelas forças do poder hegemônico global que vêm resistindo aos reiterados extrativismos, tanto sobre a natureza quanto sobre seus corpos. Estas experiências contextualizadas reúnem características de pedagogias feministas integradoras da constelação de saberes presentes em suas vidas e apresentam alternativas possíveis para a gestão e conservação sustentável da vida individual-coletiva e do ecossistema donde estão. Elas mostram ainda que a vida é o centro da sua ação e da sua visão do mundo e não a maximização do lucro e a monocultura de uma economia capitalista que são amparadas, sistematicamente, pelos direitos e regras concebidos desde a modernidade.
Keywords: pedagogias – feminismos do sul – ecologia de saberes – economia da vida – direitos do sistema Terra
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Sergei Zherlitsyn, Hochfeld-Magnetlabor Dresden (HLD-EMFL), Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany
Some unusual effects in magnetic fields
An indispensable parameter to study various physical systems is the magnetic field. Application of high magnetic fields allows the investigation, modification and control of different states of matter. Specifically for magnetic materials, experimental tools applied in such fields are essential for understanding their fundamental properties. In my talk, I discuss a high-magnetic field generation and focus on selected magnetic-field studies of some magnetic materials that have been shown to host a broad range of fascinating new and exotic phases and unusual effects. This includes multiferroic spin-superfluid and spin- supersolid phases [1,2], and phonon magnetochiral effect which has been recently observed for the first time [3].
1] V. Tsurkan, S. Zherlitsyn, L. Prodan, V. Felea, P.T. Cong, Y. Skourski, Zhe Wang, J. Deisenhofer, H.-A. Krug von Nidda, J. Wosnitza, and A. Loidl, Science Advances 3, e1601982 (2017); [2] A. Ruff, Z. Wang, S. Zherlitsyn, J. Wosnitza, S. Krohns, H.-A. Krug von Nidda, P. Lunkenheimer, V. Tsurkan, and A. Loid, Phys. Rev. B 100, 014404 (2019); [3] T. Nomura, X.-X. Zhang, S. Zherlitsyn, J. Wosnitza, Y. Tokura, N. Nagaosa, and S. Seki, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 145901 (2019).
Soraya Nour Sckell, NOVA Law School, NOVA University of Lisbon
Humboldt's cosmos and cosmopolitanism (full paper here)
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Susana Videira, Law School, University of Lisbon
Algumas notas sobre as ideias políticas do marquês de Condorcet, expressão máxima do naturalismo iluminista francês
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Tamara Caraus, Centre of Philosophy, University of Lisbon
Grasping the world only in parts: a critique of methodological nationalism in political philosophy
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Veronica Dodero, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Crossing Discipline Borders to Understand the Role of Gluten in Human Health and Disease.
Pasta, bread, biscuits: In the supermarket, more and more products are available in gluten-free versions. For people who suffer from gluten related-disorders (8% worldwide), like celiac disease or non-celiac, non-wheat allergy, wheat sensitivity (NCGS), this is very convenient. In them, gluten-containing products trigger symptoms ranging from diarrhea to infertility and even colon cancer. Nevertheless, should healthy people prefer a gluten-free pizza? What is gluten, and why can it be so dangerous? This is precisely where my research comes in - to provide more clarity about the tolerability of gluten and its role in human diseases. Inspired by Alexander von Humboldt’s legacy, I am convinced of the power of scientific observation, quantification, and the cross-talk between diverse disciplines as the pillars to deepen our understanding of Nature and Humanity. Here, I will present our findings based on fundamental research and the interdisciplinary efforts that are needed to disclose the gluten consumption dilemma.