I am a PhD candidate on Contemporary French Philosophy (Deleuze, Foucault, Derrida and Baudrillard). Currently, my main research interests are political theory, truth theory, semiotics, discourse studies, and contemporary philosophy.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3474117, Oct. 22, 2019.
Latin American populism is the main topic in Latin American politics and governance. In light of ... more Latin American populism is the main topic in Latin American politics and governance. In light of the "populist moment" (Brubaker, 2017), this article explores the main traits of Latin American populism(s) during the first two decades of the 21 st. century. Studies in political communication, political discourse, semiotics, state capture and quality of democracy offer some frames and elements to reveal the "reason of being" of the populist forces and leaders (Von Drehle, 2019). Whereas this study recognizes that the (re)emergence of populism in Latin America is linked with certain conditions of possibility, populism is, due to its illiberal nature, an obstacle for development. Given the fact that all developed countries are liberal democracies, unfortunately, populism´s success drives the Latin American region out of the path to development. In contrast with previous scholars, the main hypothesis of this essay maintains that populism´s central dichotomy is not between the "pueblo" and the "anti-pueblo" but between populist democracy and liberal democracy. Resumen: El populismo latinoamericano es el tema principal en la política y en la gobernabilidad latinoamericana. A la luz del llamado "momento populista" (Brubaker, 2017), este artículo explora las principales características de los populismos latinoamericanos durante las primeras dos décadas del siglo XXI. Los estudios en comunicación política, discurso político, semiótica, captura de estado y calidad de la democracia ofrecen algunos marcos de referencia que revelan la "razón de ser" de las fuerzas y los líderes populistas (Von Drehle, 2019). A pesar de que este estudio reconoce que la (re)emergencia del populismo en Latinoamérica está ligada a ciertas condiciones de posibilidad, el populismo es, debido a su naturaleza anti-liberal, un obstáculo para el desarrollo. Dado el hecho de que todos los países desarrollados son democracias liberales, lamentablemente, el éxito del populismo conduce a la región latinoamericana fuera del sendero hacia el desarrollo.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3397618, Jun. 1, 2019.
This study is a synthesis of the three main drivers that are exerting influence on the global pha... more This study is a synthesis of the three main drivers that are exerting influence on the global pharmaceutical industry: 1) mergers and acquisitions, 2) R&D changes, and 3) a new pricing context. During the last decades, there has been a revolution in drug discovery and development thanks to pharmacogenomics, proteomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, biomarker-driven studies, systems therapeutics, drug-target interaction prediction and artificial intelligence. However, there are signs that a problem of excessive pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is creating awareness among stakeholders that this situation is unsustainable with clear consequences for the global pharmaceutical industry´s predominant business model.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3333952, Feb. 13, 2019.
In the face of contemporary visual culture evolution, semiotics of the image, as a discipline and... more In the face of contemporary visual culture evolution, semiotics of the image, as a discipline and domain, evolves accordingly. This trend epitomizes a series of improvements in visualization technologies so as to create new images that represents the explosive variation of cultural expression worldwide. Cultural semiotics in general and the semiotics of the image in particular seizes on the progress achieved by biosemiotics, a field that dredges up the unevenness of Nature as an immense book of signs. From the works of F. de Saussure and C. S. Peirce onwards, we are able to expound and interpret the relation between signifier and signified in a myriad of signification objects. This paper retakes the main concepts that encompasses the semiotics theory and the principles of semiotic meaning making and also offers a reflection about the subject matter in connection with U. Eco´s statements and linkages with the philosophy of language.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3314447, Jan. 11, 2019.
This review article synthesizes a selection of research publications on semiotics, from different... more This review article synthesizes a selection of research publications on semiotics, from different disciplines, with the aim to give an overview of the ample field of discourse studies. In this regard, massive and new media studies, social sciences and humanities all contribute to offer rich perspectives and standpoints from which to explore the complex facets of the relation between different types of discourse, culture and the changing contemporary society. Besides, this article tackles the themes of image-text relations, multimodality, the interplay between truth and discourse, mediatization, and the role of framing strategies on the interpretation of media´s messages in an era of polymediation and of the new social media platforms as part of an evolving, pluralistic media ecosystem.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3304221, December 19, 2018.
Social sciences are profoundly intertwined when one tries to think the path to development from d... more Social sciences are profoundly intertwined when one tries to think the path to development from development theory. As we know, the main source of evidence and guidance that feeds the development theory is the observed experience of the developed countries, their trajectories, their nuances, and, specially, the successful policies that allowed them to get at that desired stage. In my view, economics as a science, however important, is not sufficient to inform policymakers on the sequence of steps to attain this purpose. The decision process is one of the keys. What follows is a reflection to help orient the public debate inside the polity of underdeveloped countries, so we need to galvanize the strategic intelligence and to create a field of dialogue ―an intersection― between different disciplines, knowledge capital and actors in order to achieve more clarity, to prioritize, and to discern the pros and cons of each approach in these changing and turbulent times.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3300674, December 13, 2018.
Globalization is the main and most remarkable phenomenon of the world economy´s post-Cold War per... more Globalization is the main and most remarkable phenomenon of the world economy´s post-Cold War period. According to F. Mégret (2009), it can be described as the name that has been given to the multi-faceted process of expansion of human activities to the entire globe. This short essay is an attempt to synthesize some thoughts and the results of a series of lines of research about the topic in order to shed some light on its conflicts, nuances and problems. For example, the published evidence shows that globalization increases within-country inequality but reduces inter-country inequality. Is this a justification to the need of the " eclipse " of the State or, to the contrary, of the revitalization of the need of the " centrality " of the State to make up for its adverse effects?
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3297614, December 7, 2018.
This essay synthesizes the main lines of inquiry and topics inside Judith N. Shklar´s Legalism (1... more This essay synthesizes the main lines of inquiry and topics inside Judith N. Shklar´s Legalism (1964). This text explores the relationship between law and moral normativity and between law and political order. Shklar´s standpoint strengthens the idea that legalism is a conservative and stabilizing force in liberal democracies. Besides, in her discursive strategy, she staves off a dogmatic approach to the problem of the study of political and legal theory in heterogeneous societies. In my view, she adopts an eclectic mode of reasoning to ponder the technicalities and nuances of statecraft, the merits of political trials and the possibility of war and peace in the world.
Resumen: Este ensayo sintetiza los principales tópicos y líneas de indagación dentro de la obra Legalismo (1964) de Judith N. Shklar. Este texto explora la relación entre el derecho y la normatividad moral y entre el derecho y el orden político. El punto de vista de Shklar fortalece la idea de que el legalismo es una fuerza estabilizadora y conservadora en las democracias liberales. Y de que los totalitarismos son fuertemente anti-legalistas. Además, en su estrategia discursiva, ella evita usar un enfoque dogmático con respecto al problema del estudio de la teoría política y la teoría legal en las actuales sociedades heterogéneas y moralmente plurales. En mi opinión, Shklar adopta un modo ecléctico de razonamiento para ponderar los aspectos técnicos y los matices del arte del manejo del estado, los méritos de los juicios políticos en diversos regímenes y la posibilidad de la guerra y la paz en el mundo.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3293358, November 29, 2018.
This essay sketches out some lines of argument in regard to the relationship between political re... more This essay sketches out some lines of argument in regard to the relationship between political realism and moral normativity. Usually, ethics and politics walk through divergent paths. In the real world, realists maintain that moral considerations must not guide the action in the political sphere, in light of the fact that there is a difference of nature between both of them. Political theory, from Thucydides, Aristotle and Hobbes onwards, is crossed by a tension between what can be done and what must be done, in a particular context of action. Resumen: Este ensayo resume algunas líneas argumentales con respecto a la relación entre el realismo político y la normatividad moral. Usualmente, la ética y la política caminan por senderos divergentes. Los realistas sostienen que, en el mundo real, las consideraciones morales no deben guiar la acción en la esfera de la política porque hay una diferencia de naturaleza entre ambas. La teoría política, desde Tucídides, Aristóteles y Hobbes en adelante, está cruzada por la tensión entre aquello que puede ser hecho y aquello que debe ser hecho en determinado contexto de acción.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3290045, November 24, 2018.
Is globalization compatible with democracy and prosperity for all? According to the Indian global... more Is globalization compatible with democracy and prosperity for all? According to the Indian global investor Ruchir Sharma: " The social tensions generated by rapid globalization in the early 20th century also ring familiar. The share of income going to the richest 1% of Americans rose steadily from 1870 to a peak of nearly 20% in the late 1920s, as global commerce created a " gilded age " plutocracy. Popular resentment spread, and politicians began working to seal the borders, particularly after 1929, when the economy crashed into the Great Depression " (Sharma, The New York Times, 2016). This article examines the current debate about globalization and the new deglobalization tendencies since the electoral triumph of D. Trump in late 2016, who in fact interpreted the feelings of those losers of the globalization wave that started in 1990.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3286002, November 16, 2018.
In the last years, the surge of right-wing populist parties in Europe is gaining influence and po... more In the last years, the surge of right-wing populist parties in Europe is gaining influence and popular support both in the West and in the East. This right-leaning power shift is a consequence of different, complex and interrelated factors, such as, the fertile ground of economic grievances and distress, globalization, the sequel of the 2008 financial crisis, massive immigration, xenophobia and islamophobia, the shortcomings of unresponsive mainstream parties, the disparities between regions inside countries, and the backlash against an unknown post-national order. This article inquires the relationship between the use of language as a form of self-definition and self-revelation to convince the electorate and this electoral turning point. This right-wing shift is of course a source of concern for the stability of liberal democracy and for those profoundly conscious of the European history of war and exclusion. Still, this is also a political challenge to the status quo in view of the inability of the center and center-left governments to read the letdown, the dissatisfaction, and the nostalgia in a growing segment of media-savvy, working population that is a key and active constituency.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3283053, November 12, 2018.
Populism is a controversial signifier. This article explores the merits and demerits of different... more Populism is a controversial signifier. This article explores the merits and demerits of different definitions of populism as well as different subtypes, such as exclusionary and inclusionary populism, and right-wing and left-wing populism. Besides, it highlights the differential traits of populist experiences in Europe in regard to Latin America. In this sense, the focus is on the presence or absence of vertical or horizontal accountability in populist regimes and the degree of governmental corruption and impunity, as a consequence. Finally, the article offers a reflection on the relationship of populism and sense as a cause of the loss of popularity of left-wing populism in Latin America.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3280432, November 7, 2018.
This article presents a reflection on the current political ecosystem in which infowars are sprea... more This article presents a reflection on the current political ecosystem in which infowars are spreading. The information space is littered with ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ in such an extent that there is a growing concern with regard to their impact on voting behavior, the emergence of unexpected new leaders and, as a consequence, the quality and future of democracy worldwide. Yale historian Timothy Snyder sounded the alarm recently, warning that “post-truth is pre-fascism” whereas the Oxford Dictionaries declared post-truth the word of the year in 2016 to highlight the importance of this subject matter. The discredit of traditional media in favor of social networks, and the presence of bots and trolls, paves the way to an unprecedented post-fact society.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3240595, August 29, 2018.
Innovation in philosophical discourse, in view of the history of philosophy, is a controversial t... more Innovation in philosophical discourse, in view of the history of philosophy, is a controversial topic. Is a “new” mode of expression really new? Is a “new” mode of expression really valuable? Gilles Deleuze´s Difference and repetition (1968) is a complex text with a rich intertextual fabric. It was once Deleuze´s PhD thesis and in its 445 pages it engages itself in dialogue with 115 different authors such as Joyce, Artaud, Kant, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Péguy, etc. Making use of critical discourse analysis, this article examines certain aspects of the text, especially, the place of law, moral law, language, power, sense, meaning, repetition and difference from the perspective of philosophy, social sciences and humanities.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3229211, August 9, 2018.
Philosophy, social sciences, public health and the humanities can give a valuable contribution to... more Philosophy, social sciences, public health and the humanities can give a valuable contribution to the understanding of the complexity of abortion debate in Argentina. On August 9, 2018, the Senate of Argentina rejected (38 to 31) a pro-choice abortion bill that had been approved on the Lower Chamber on June 14, 2018 (129 to 125). The intense debate, since March 2018, showed a divided society and non-compatible positions in the public sphere. This article examines some aspects of this complex political and social controversy and the lessons learned.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3209057, July 5, 2018.
In February 1967, Hannah Arendt published a separate essay untitled ‘Truth and Politics’ in the p... more In February 1967, Hannah Arendt published a separate essay untitled ‘Truth and Politics’ in the pages of The New Yorker. The following year, in 1968, it appeared as the seventh essay in her essay collection Between Past and Future: Eight Exercises of Political Reflection. This article takes it as a point of departure and discusses its trans-epochal content, especially, the difference between ‘factual truth’ and ‘truth from reason’, or truth from discourse, and their relationships with selected current topics in contemporary liberal democracies such as the use of lies in the service of power acquisition and power maintenance, and the emergence of ‘new’ concepts such as ‘post-truth’, ‘fake news’, ‘alternative facts’, ‘regimes of post-truth’, ‘post-factual society’, and ‘post-politics’.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3206704, July 2, 2018.
Hannah Arendt´s concept of superfluous beings is valuable these days in relation to abortion poli... more Hannah Arendt´s concept of superfluous beings is valuable these days in relation to abortion politics. History teaches that all biological suppression policies begin with the declaration that certain group or groups of population are exterminable, redundant, dispensable. In this view, the unborn are a proper example of human beings declared ‘superfluous’ by the political power, a dogma (in this case, the gender dogma), or the juridical order. Unfortunately, as we know, there is a gap between the legal order and the moral order (Hart, 1958) so the legalization of abortion is thinkable and desirable by members of “women`s rights” movements. This article is a reflection on this topic and draws upon Kantian as well as Popperian ethics against abortion legalization initiatives and, as a consequence, in favor of the need to limit human freedom in order to defend and protect human rights. From a public health perspective, we ascertain that the prevention and elimination of maternal mortality (by all causes) can be perfectly achieved without legal abortion, which is an instrument of tanatopolitics and a piece of the contemporaneous post-moral legal order.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3198416, June 18, 2018.
Culture could be viewed as an amalgamation of potentially related and relatively durable societal... more Culture could be viewed as an amalgamation of potentially related and relatively durable societal characteristics that describe an identifiable human population, such as a nation or ethnic group (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov, 1991). It can be unraveled into numerous variables, any of which might account for the observed differences between the populations that a researcher is intent to study. Among multiple possibilities, Sigmund Freud, in Civilization and Its Discontents (1930) chose a concept of culture as a synonym of a complex sum of traits with a moral purpose. In this sense, given the fact that culture is restrictive (“Thou shall not kill”) and is in opposition to instinctual satisfaction (especially, aggressiveness), instinctual renunciation is the sought-out result. Therefore, the function of culture ―as a construct―, according to Freud, is to exert a barrier to the naturally-determined violent and sexual impulses, in order to create the condition of possibility for the emergence and maintenance of a peaceful, “libidinally-linked human community”. This essay explores some implications of this Freudian characterization of culture in light of the current, complex, apparently postmoral, postmodern condition and through the lenses of some selected texts of Kant, Nietzsche, Bataille, Deleuze, Foucault, Habermas and Lipovetsky.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3192627, June 7, 2018.
Scientists tend to be interested in the nature and the behavior of kinds of things, such as accel... more Scientists tend to be interested in the nature and the behavior of kinds of things, such as accelerating objects and that what is considered scientific knowledge is of generalizations: for instance, propositions about all freely falling bodies, not about any particular one (Audi, 1998, p. 247). However, clinical knowledge has to do with individually considered facts, such as symptoms, signs, disturbances and diseases. This essay explores the epistemological nature of the medical knowledge in terms of the following questions: Is it art? Is it science? If it is science, what kind of science is medicine? Evidence-based medicine (EBM) tries to base medicine on scientific grounds, however, the results of “the gold standard” of EBM, i.e., the randomized clinical trial (RCT), are poorly generalizable. Thus, if medical knowledge cannot be based on clinical experience and judgement alone, someone else, out of the medical profession, is determining what is considered medical knowledge. This article discusses the scientificity of the Western medical practice and the singularity of the patients in relation to the current apparatus of knowledge production and dissemination in contemporary medicine.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3187620, May 30, 2018.
This article synthesizes the topic of pharmaceutical prescription quality measurement. In contemp... more This article synthesizes the topic of pharmaceutical prescription quality measurement. In contemporary medicine, the interaction between physicians and drug companies´reps affects the clinical judgement regarding prescribing decisions, and contributes to lead to the problem of income-driven inappropriate prescriptions. With a risk of unnecessary care, overprescription, polypharmacy, and avoidable adverse effects. This conflict of interest erodes the trust the patients have in relation to their doctors, negatively influences the degree of compliance with standards of quality-of-care and augments the cost of prescribing because the prescribing preferences usually favor brand-name, high-priced new pharmaceuticals in lieu of cheaper, therapeutically equivalent, alternatives. Resumen: El presente artículo pretende ser una síntesis del tópico de la medición de la calidad prescriptiva de medicamentos. En la medicina contemporánea, la interacción entre los médicos y los representantes de las compañías farmacéuticas afecta, en mayor o menor grado, el juicio clínico respecto a sus decisiones de prescripción, y conduce al problema de las prescripciones inapropiadas, orientadas a maximizar ingresos. Con el riesgo de atención innecesaria, sobreprescripción, polifarmacia o efectos adversos evitables. Este conflicto de interés erosiona la confianza que los pacientes tienen en sus médicos, influye negativamente en el grado de
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3180902, May 18, 2018., 2018
Big Pharma´s pricing strategies are being put into question due to the fact that they are a threa... more Big Pharma´s pricing strategies are being put into question due to the fact that they are a threat to both access and affordability. Prescription pharmaceutical costs in the U.S. represent now a record of 17% of total health expenditure, when it was 12% in 2008, so that it is growing faster than the total health bill`s rising curve. In monetary units, it reached the level of u$s 448,2bn in 2016, near 2% of GDP. In the last years, a new stream of high-priced and exorbitant-priced brand-name on-patent drugs are entering into the market, but some of them are of dubious clinical benefit, especially, new anticancer molecules. Besides, off-patent drugs, with a long presence in the market, are being offered in exchange for new retail prices that turns them into generic drugs with brand-name prices. This article examines the ethical problem of prescription pharmaceutical price hikes, the causes of price differentials between the U.S. and Europe, and the experience with certain policy options and tools to curb this practice, among them, the reference price system, which is in use in at least 24 European Union member states, Canada, Australia and New Zealand with favorable results.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3474117, Oct. 22, 2019.
Latin American populism is the main topic in Latin American politics and governance. In light of ... more Latin American populism is the main topic in Latin American politics and governance. In light of the "populist moment" (Brubaker, 2017), this article explores the main traits of Latin American populism(s) during the first two decades of the 21 st. century. Studies in political communication, political discourse, semiotics, state capture and quality of democracy offer some frames and elements to reveal the "reason of being" of the populist forces and leaders (Von Drehle, 2019). Whereas this study recognizes that the (re)emergence of populism in Latin America is linked with certain conditions of possibility, populism is, due to its illiberal nature, an obstacle for development. Given the fact that all developed countries are liberal democracies, unfortunately, populism´s success drives the Latin American region out of the path to development. In contrast with previous scholars, the main hypothesis of this essay maintains that populism´s central dichotomy is not between the "pueblo" and the "anti-pueblo" but between populist democracy and liberal democracy. Resumen: El populismo latinoamericano es el tema principal en la política y en la gobernabilidad latinoamericana. A la luz del llamado "momento populista" (Brubaker, 2017), este artículo explora las principales características de los populismos latinoamericanos durante las primeras dos décadas del siglo XXI. Los estudios en comunicación política, discurso político, semiótica, captura de estado y calidad de la democracia ofrecen algunos marcos de referencia que revelan la "razón de ser" de las fuerzas y los líderes populistas (Von Drehle, 2019). A pesar de que este estudio reconoce que la (re)emergencia del populismo en Latinoamérica está ligada a ciertas condiciones de posibilidad, el populismo es, debido a su naturaleza anti-liberal, un obstáculo para el desarrollo. Dado el hecho de que todos los países desarrollados son democracias liberales, lamentablemente, el éxito del populismo conduce a la región latinoamericana fuera del sendero hacia el desarrollo.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3397618, Jun. 1, 2019.
This study is a synthesis of the three main drivers that are exerting influence on the global pha... more This study is a synthesis of the three main drivers that are exerting influence on the global pharmaceutical industry: 1) mergers and acquisitions, 2) R&D changes, and 3) a new pricing context. During the last decades, there has been a revolution in drug discovery and development thanks to pharmacogenomics, proteomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, biomarker-driven studies, systems therapeutics, drug-target interaction prediction and artificial intelligence. However, there are signs that a problem of excessive pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is creating awareness among stakeholders that this situation is unsustainable with clear consequences for the global pharmaceutical industry´s predominant business model.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3333952, Feb. 13, 2019.
In the face of contemporary visual culture evolution, semiotics of the image, as a discipline and... more In the face of contemporary visual culture evolution, semiotics of the image, as a discipline and domain, evolves accordingly. This trend epitomizes a series of improvements in visualization technologies so as to create new images that represents the explosive variation of cultural expression worldwide. Cultural semiotics in general and the semiotics of the image in particular seizes on the progress achieved by biosemiotics, a field that dredges up the unevenness of Nature as an immense book of signs. From the works of F. de Saussure and C. S. Peirce onwards, we are able to expound and interpret the relation between signifier and signified in a myriad of signification objects. This paper retakes the main concepts that encompasses the semiotics theory and the principles of semiotic meaning making and also offers a reflection about the subject matter in connection with U. Eco´s statements and linkages with the philosophy of language.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3314447, Jan. 11, 2019.
This review article synthesizes a selection of research publications on semiotics, from different... more This review article synthesizes a selection of research publications on semiotics, from different disciplines, with the aim to give an overview of the ample field of discourse studies. In this regard, massive and new media studies, social sciences and humanities all contribute to offer rich perspectives and standpoints from which to explore the complex facets of the relation between different types of discourse, culture and the changing contemporary society. Besides, this article tackles the themes of image-text relations, multimodality, the interplay between truth and discourse, mediatization, and the role of framing strategies on the interpretation of media´s messages in an era of polymediation and of the new social media platforms as part of an evolving, pluralistic media ecosystem.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3304221, December 19, 2018.
Social sciences are profoundly intertwined when one tries to think the path to development from d... more Social sciences are profoundly intertwined when one tries to think the path to development from development theory. As we know, the main source of evidence and guidance that feeds the development theory is the observed experience of the developed countries, their trajectories, their nuances, and, specially, the successful policies that allowed them to get at that desired stage. In my view, economics as a science, however important, is not sufficient to inform policymakers on the sequence of steps to attain this purpose. The decision process is one of the keys. What follows is a reflection to help orient the public debate inside the polity of underdeveloped countries, so we need to galvanize the strategic intelligence and to create a field of dialogue ―an intersection― between different disciplines, knowledge capital and actors in order to achieve more clarity, to prioritize, and to discern the pros and cons of each approach in these changing and turbulent times.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3300674, December 13, 2018.
Globalization is the main and most remarkable phenomenon of the world economy´s post-Cold War per... more Globalization is the main and most remarkable phenomenon of the world economy´s post-Cold War period. According to F. Mégret (2009), it can be described as the name that has been given to the multi-faceted process of expansion of human activities to the entire globe. This short essay is an attempt to synthesize some thoughts and the results of a series of lines of research about the topic in order to shed some light on its conflicts, nuances and problems. For example, the published evidence shows that globalization increases within-country inequality but reduces inter-country inequality. Is this a justification to the need of the " eclipse " of the State or, to the contrary, of the revitalization of the need of the " centrality " of the State to make up for its adverse effects?
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3297614, December 7, 2018.
This essay synthesizes the main lines of inquiry and topics inside Judith N. Shklar´s Legalism (1... more This essay synthesizes the main lines of inquiry and topics inside Judith N. Shklar´s Legalism (1964). This text explores the relationship between law and moral normativity and between law and political order. Shklar´s standpoint strengthens the idea that legalism is a conservative and stabilizing force in liberal democracies. Besides, in her discursive strategy, she staves off a dogmatic approach to the problem of the study of political and legal theory in heterogeneous societies. In my view, she adopts an eclectic mode of reasoning to ponder the technicalities and nuances of statecraft, the merits of political trials and the possibility of war and peace in the world.
Resumen: Este ensayo sintetiza los principales tópicos y líneas de indagación dentro de la obra Legalismo (1964) de Judith N. Shklar. Este texto explora la relación entre el derecho y la normatividad moral y entre el derecho y el orden político. El punto de vista de Shklar fortalece la idea de que el legalismo es una fuerza estabilizadora y conservadora en las democracias liberales. Y de que los totalitarismos son fuertemente anti-legalistas. Además, en su estrategia discursiva, ella evita usar un enfoque dogmático con respecto al problema del estudio de la teoría política y la teoría legal en las actuales sociedades heterogéneas y moralmente plurales. En mi opinión, Shklar adopta un modo ecléctico de razonamiento para ponderar los aspectos técnicos y los matices del arte del manejo del estado, los méritos de los juicios políticos en diversos regímenes y la posibilidad de la guerra y la paz en el mundo.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3293358, November 29, 2018.
This essay sketches out some lines of argument in regard to the relationship between political re... more This essay sketches out some lines of argument in regard to the relationship between political realism and moral normativity. Usually, ethics and politics walk through divergent paths. In the real world, realists maintain that moral considerations must not guide the action in the political sphere, in light of the fact that there is a difference of nature between both of them. Political theory, from Thucydides, Aristotle and Hobbes onwards, is crossed by a tension between what can be done and what must be done, in a particular context of action. Resumen: Este ensayo resume algunas líneas argumentales con respecto a la relación entre el realismo político y la normatividad moral. Usualmente, la ética y la política caminan por senderos divergentes. Los realistas sostienen que, en el mundo real, las consideraciones morales no deben guiar la acción en la esfera de la política porque hay una diferencia de naturaleza entre ambas. La teoría política, desde Tucídides, Aristóteles y Hobbes en adelante, está cruzada por la tensión entre aquello que puede ser hecho y aquello que debe ser hecho en determinado contexto de acción.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3290045, November 24, 2018.
Is globalization compatible with democracy and prosperity for all? According to the Indian global... more Is globalization compatible with democracy and prosperity for all? According to the Indian global investor Ruchir Sharma: " The social tensions generated by rapid globalization in the early 20th century also ring familiar. The share of income going to the richest 1% of Americans rose steadily from 1870 to a peak of nearly 20% in the late 1920s, as global commerce created a " gilded age " plutocracy. Popular resentment spread, and politicians began working to seal the borders, particularly after 1929, when the economy crashed into the Great Depression " (Sharma, The New York Times, 2016). This article examines the current debate about globalization and the new deglobalization tendencies since the electoral triumph of D. Trump in late 2016, who in fact interpreted the feelings of those losers of the globalization wave that started in 1990.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3286002, November 16, 2018.
In the last years, the surge of right-wing populist parties in Europe is gaining influence and po... more In the last years, the surge of right-wing populist parties in Europe is gaining influence and popular support both in the West and in the East. This right-leaning power shift is a consequence of different, complex and interrelated factors, such as, the fertile ground of economic grievances and distress, globalization, the sequel of the 2008 financial crisis, massive immigration, xenophobia and islamophobia, the shortcomings of unresponsive mainstream parties, the disparities between regions inside countries, and the backlash against an unknown post-national order. This article inquires the relationship between the use of language as a form of self-definition and self-revelation to convince the electorate and this electoral turning point. This right-wing shift is of course a source of concern for the stability of liberal democracy and for those profoundly conscious of the European history of war and exclusion. Still, this is also a political challenge to the status quo in view of the inability of the center and center-left governments to read the letdown, the dissatisfaction, and the nostalgia in a growing segment of media-savvy, working population that is a key and active constituency.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3283053, November 12, 2018.
Populism is a controversial signifier. This article explores the merits and demerits of different... more Populism is a controversial signifier. This article explores the merits and demerits of different definitions of populism as well as different subtypes, such as exclusionary and inclusionary populism, and right-wing and left-wing populism. Besides, it highlights the differential traits of populist experiences in Europe in regard to Latin America. In this sense, the focus is on the presence or absence of vertical or horizontal accountability in populist regimes and the degree of governmental corruption and impunity, as a consequence. Finally, the article offers a reflection on the relationship of populism and sense as a cause of the loss of popularity of left-wing populism in Latin America.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3280432, November 7, 2018.
This article presents a reflection on the current political ecosystem in which infowars are sprea... more This article presents a reflection on the current political ecosystem in which infowars are spreading. The information space is littered with ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ in such an extent that there is a growing concern with regard to their impact on voting behavior, the emergence of unexpected new leaders and, as a consequence, the quality and future of democracy worldwide. Yale historian Timothy Snyder sounded the alarm recently, warning that “post-truth is pre-fascism” whereas the Oxford Dictionaries declared post-truth the word of the year in 2016 to highlight the importance of this subject matter. The discredit of traditional media in favor of social networks, and the presence of bots and trolls, paves the way to an unprecedented post-fact society.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3240595, August 29, 2018.
Innovation in philosophical discourse, in view of the history of philosophy, is a controversial t... more Innovation in philosophical discourse, in view of the history of philosophy, is a controversial topic. Is a “new” mode of expression really new? Is a “new” mode of expression really valuable? Gilles Deleuze´s Difference and repetition (1968) is a complex text with a rich intertextual fabric. It was once Deleuze´s PhD thesis and in its 445 pages it engages itself in dialogue with 115 different authors such as Joyce, Artaud, Kant, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Péguy, etc. Making use of critical discourse analysis, this article examines certain aspects of the text, especially, the place of law, moral law, language, power, sense, meaning, repetition and difference from the perspective of philosophy, social sciences and humanities.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3229211, August 9, 2018.
Philosophy, social sciences, public health and the humanities can give a valuable contribution to... more Philosophy, social sciences, public health and the humanities can give a valuable contribution to the understanding of the complexity of abortion debate in Argentina. On August 9, 2018, the Senate of Argentina rejected (38 to 31) a pro-choice abortion bill that had been approved on the Lower Chamber on June 14, 2018 (129 to 125). The intense debate, since March 2018, showed a divided society and non-compatible positions in the public sphere. This article examines some aspects of this complex political and social controversy and the lessons learned.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3209057, July 5, 2018.
In February 1967, Hannah Arendt published a separate essay untitled ‘Truth and Politics’ in the p... more In February 1967, Hannah Arendt published a separate essay untitled ‘Truth and Politics’ in the pages of The New Yorker. The following year, in 1968, it appeared as the seventh essay in her essay collection Between Past and Future: Eight Exercises of Political Reflection. This article takes it as a point of departure and discusses its trans-epochal content, especially, the difference between ‘factual truth’ and ‘truth from reason’, or truth from discourse, and their relationships with selected current topics in contemporary liberal democracies such as the use of lies in the service of power acquisition and power maintenance, and the emergence of ‘new’ concepts such as ‘post-truth’, ‘fake news’, ‘alternative facts’, ‘regimes of post-truth’, ‘post-factual society’, and ‘post-politics’.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3206704, July 2, 2018.
Hannah Arendt´s concept of superfluous beings is valuable these days in relation to abortion poli... more Hannah Arendt´s concept of superfluous beings is valuable these days in relation to abortion politics. History teaches that all biological suppression policies begin with the declaration that certain group or groups of population are exterminable, redundant, dispensable. In this view, the unborn are a proper example of human beings declared ‘superfluous’ by the political power, a dogma (in this case, the gender dogma), or the juridical order. Unfortunately, as we know, there is a gap between the legal order and the moral order (Hart, 1958) so the legalization of abortion is thinkable and desirable by members of “women`s rights” movements. This article is a reflection on this topic and draws upon Kantian as well as Popperian ethics against abortion legalization initiatives and, as a consequence, in favor of the need to limit human freedom in order to defend and protect human rights. From a public health perspective, we ascertain that the prevention and elimination of maternal mortality (by all causes) can be perfectly achieved without legal abortion, which is an instrument of tanatopolitics and a piece of the contemporaneous post-moral legal order.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3198416, June 18, 2018.
Culture could be viewed as an amalgamation of potentially related and relatively durable societal... more Culture could be viewed as an amalgamation of potentially related and relatively durable societal characteristics that describe an identifiable human population, such as a nation or ethnic group (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov, 1991). It can be unraveled into numerous variables, any of which might account for the observed differences between the populations that a researcher is intent to study. Among multiple possibilities, Sigmund Freud, in Civilization and Its Discontents (1930) chose a concept of culture as a synonym of a complex sum of traits with a moral purpose. In this sense, given the fact that culture is restrictive (“Thou shall not kill”) and is in opposition to instinctual satisfaction (especially, aggressiveness), instinctual renunciation is the sought-out result. Therefore, the function of culture ―as a construct―, according to Freud, is to exert a barrier to the naturally-determined violent and sexual impulses, in order to create the condition of possibility for the emergence and maintenance of a peaceful, “libidinally-linked human community”. This essay explores some implications of this Freudian characterization of culture in light of the current, complex, apparently postmoral, postmodern condition and through the lenses of some selected texts of Kant, Nietzsche, Bataille, Deleuze, Foucault, Habermas and Lipovetsky.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3192627, June 7, 2018.
Scientists tend to be interested in the nature and the behavior of kinds of things, such as accel... more Scientists tend to be interested in the nature and the behavior of kinds of things, such as accelerating objects and that what is considered scientific knowledge is of generalizations: for instance, propositions about all freely falling bodies, not about any particular one (Audi, 1998, p. 247). However, clinical knowledge has to do with individually considered facts, such as symptoms, signs, disturbances and diseases. This essay explores the epistemological nature of the medical knowledge in terms of the following questions: Is it art? Is it science? If it is science, what kind of science is medicine? Evidence-based medicine (EBM) tries to base medicine on scientific grounds, however, the results of “the gold standard” of EBM, i.e., the randomized clinical trial (RCT), are poorly generalizable. Thus, if medical knowledge cannot be based on clinical experience and judgement alone, someone else, out of the medical profession, is determining what is considered medical knowledge. This article discusses the scientificity of the Western medical practice and the singularity of the patients in relation to the current apparatus of knowledge production and dissemination in contemporary medicine.
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3187620, May 30, 2018.
This article synthesizes the topic of pharmaceutical prescription quality measurement. In contemp... more This article synthesizes the topic of pharmaceutical prescription quality measurement. In contemporary medicine, the interaction between physicians and drug companies´reps affects the clinical judgement regarding prescribing decisions, and contributes to lead to the problem of income-driven inappropriate prescriptions. With a risk of unnecessary care, overprescription, polypharmacy, and avoidable adverse effects. This conflict of interest erodes the trust the patients have in relation to their doctors, negatively influences the degree of compliance with standards of quality-of-care and augments the cost of prescribing because the prescribing preferences usually favor brand-name, high-priced new pharmaceuticals in lieu of cheaper, therapeutically equivalent, alternatives. Resumen: El presente artículo pretende ser una síntesis del tópico de la medición de la calidad prescriptiva de medicamentos. En la medicina contemporánea, la interacción entre los médicos y los representantes de las compañías farmacéuticas afecta, en mayor o menor grado, el juicio clínico respecto a sus decisiones de prescripción, y conduce al problema de las prescripciones inapropiadas, orientadas a maximizar ingresos. Con el riesgo de atención innecesaria, sobreprescripción, polifarmacia o efectos adversos evitables. Este conflicto de interés erosiona la confianza que los pacientes tienen en sus médicos, influye negativamente en el grado de
SSRN Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY; Elsevier, Amsterdam, ID N° 3180902, May 18, 2018., 2018
Big Pharma´s pricing strategies are being put into question due to the fact that they are a threa... more Big Pharma´s pricing strategies are being put into question due to the fact that they are a threat to both access and affordability. Prescription pharmaceutical costs in the U.S. represent now a record of 17% of total health expenditure, when it was 12% in 2008, so that it is growing faster than the total health bill`s rising curve. In monetary units, it reached the level of u$s 448,2bn in 2016, near 2% of GDP. In the last years, a new stream of high-priced and exorbitant-priced brand-name on-patent drugs are entering into the market, but some of them are of dubious clinical benefit, especially, new anticancer molecules. Besides, off-patent drugs, with a long presence in the market, are being offered in exchange for new retail prices that turns them into generic drugs with brand-name prices. This article examines the ethical problem of prescription pharmaceutical price hikes, the causes of price differentials between the U.S. and Europe, and the experience with certain policy options and tools to curb this practice, among them, the reference price system, which is in use in at least 24 European Union member states, Canada, Australia and New Zealand with favorable results.
En el siglo XXI, lo público está siendo revalorizado como una esfera esencial de la convivencia y... more En el siglo XXI, lo público está siendo revalorizado como una esfera esencial de la convivencia y la vida democrática. Eso no significa que lo público sea exclusiva potestad del gobierno o del aparato de estado. Por el contrario, la defensa de lo público es una tarea mancomunada entre la autoridad pública elegida democráticamente, los ciudadanos y las diversas organizaciones de la sociedad civil interesadas en participar en la definición de las actividades relacionadas con la producción de salud comunitaria. Entonces, convocar, abrir espacios para la participación, encauzar las iniciativas y saber escuchar deben ser los principios básicos que nos van a permitir tomar decisiones acertadas y sostenerlas en el tiempo.
La evaluación del desempeño del conjunto del sistema de salud a escala nacional es una tarea comp... more La evaluación del desempeño del conjunto del sistema de salud a escala nacional es una tarea compleja y de especial relevancia debido a que constituye una vía para encontrar respuestas a cuatro preguntas fundamentales: 1) ¿Cuál es el valor del producto final del sistema de salud en relación a los factores de producción que consume, y en relación al valor que podría obtenerse usando los mismos factores de producción de otra manera? 2) ¿Cómo cuantificar la magnitud del potencial de mejoramiento del desempeño? 3) ¿Cuáles son los factores obstaculizadores y facilitadores de un mayor desempeño? 4) ¿Cómo reducir la distancia entre
el desempeño actual y el desempeño alcanzable?. Como consecuencia de la naturaleza multidimensional del concepto de desempeño, la joven disciplina de evaluación del desempeño aplicada a sistemas de salud se caracteriza por poseer una actitud de apertura al aporte de miradas y perspectivas múltiples. El presente documento tiene por objeto poner a consideración del debate público una exploración del estado actual de la evaluación del desempeño de los diversos sistemas de salud comparados desde una perspectiva internacional. Adicionalmente, se presentarán algunas propuestas diseñadas para complementar la evaluación del desempeño tanto en función de las peculiaridades como de las necesidades de cambio que presenta el sistema de salud de Argentina.
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Papers by Marcelo F. Ponce
Keywords
Political philosophy, political theory, normativity, legalism, realism, Shklar, Arendt.
Copyright © 2018 by Marcelo F. Ponce
Resumen:
Este ensayo sintetiza los principales tópicos y líneas de indagación dentro de la obra Legalismo (1964) de Judith N. Shklar. Este texto explora la relación entre el derecho y la normatividad moral y entre el derecho y el orden político. El punto de vista de Shklar fortalece la idea de que el legalismo es una fuerza estabilizadora y conservadora en las democracias liberales. Y de que los totalitarismos son fuertemente anti-legalistas. Además, en su estrategia discursiva, ella evita usar un enfoque dogmático con respecto al problema del estudio de la teoría política y la teoría legal en las actuales sociedades heterogéneas y moralmente plurales. En mi opinión, Shklar adopta un modo ecléctico de razonamiento para ponderar los aspectos técnicos y los matices del arte del manejo del estado, los méritos de los juicios políticos en diversos regímenes y la posibilidad de la guerra y la paz en el mundo.
Palabras clave:
Filosofía política, teoría política, normatividad, legalismo, realismo, Shklar, Arendt.
Copyright © 2018 by Marcelo F. Ponce
Keywords
Political philosophy, political theory, normativity, legalism, realism, Shklar, Arendt.
Copyright © 2018 by Marcelo F. Ponce
Resumen:
Este ensayo sintetiza los principales tópicos y líneas de indagación dentro de la obra Legalismo (1964) de Judith N. Shklar. Este texto explora la relación entre el derecho y la normatividad moral y entre el derecho y el orden político. El punto de vista de Shklar fortalece la idea de que el legalismo es una fuerza estabilizadora y conservadora en las democracias liberales. Y de que los totalitarismos son fuertemente anti-legalistas. Además, en su estrategia discursiva, ella evita usar un enfoque dogmático con respecto al problema del estudio de la teoría política y la teoría legal en las actuales sociedades heterogéneas y moralmente plurales. En mi opinión, Shklar adopta un modo ecléctico de razonamiento para ponderar los aspectos técnicos y los matices del arte del manejo del estado, los méritos de los juicios políticos en diversos regímenes y la posibilidad de la guerra y la paz en el mundo.
Palabras clave:
Filosofía política, teoría política, normatividad, legalismo, realismo, Shklar, Arendt.
Copyright © 2018 by Marcelo F. Ponce
el desempeño actual y el desempeño alcanzable?. Como consecuencia de la naturaleza multidimensional del concepto de desempeño, la joven disciplina de evaluación del desempeño aplicada a sistemas de salud se caracteriza por poseer una actitud de apertura al aporte de miradas y perspectivas múltiples. El presente documento tiene por objeto poner a consideración del debate público una exploración del estado actual de la evaluación del desempeño de los diversos sistemas de salud comparados desde una perspectiva internacional. Adicionalmente, se presentarán algunas propuestas diseñadas para complementar la evaluación del desempeño tanto en función de las peculiaridades como de las necesidades de cambio que presenta el sistema de salud de Argentina.