Pros y Contras en el Debate Acerca de la Homeopatía / Pros and Cons in the Discussion About of Homeopathy

La Homeopatía es bastante controvertida, tanto así que algunos filósofos de la ciencia la consideran un fraude. La pregunta de si la Homeopatía es una pseudociencia puede ser abordada al menos mediante dos estrategias: a) evaluando los principales argumentos de los detractores, y b) discutiendo el criterio de demarcación entre ciencia y pseudociencia propuesto por el filósofo Mario Bunge. Para lograr lo anterior, discutiremos algunos puntos a favor y en contra de la Homeopatía. Desde un inicio, el criterio de Bunge ha sido considerado como la propuesta más poderosa en contra de la Homeopatía. Como principal objetivo, en el presente artículo se proveen algunos ejemplos que permiten ilustrar el debate. No obstante, al final del artículo se demuestra que el criterio de demarcación ofrecido por Bunge es un acto de fe que, en última instancia, se enfrenta al creciente cuerpo de evidencia científica a favor de la Homeopatía. Con base en lo anterior, se concluye que el criterio bungueano no logra su objetivo y carece de pertinencia. (AU)

Homeopathy is a controversial field of study, so much that it has even been considered by some philosophers of science as a fraud. The question of homeopathy as pseudoscience can be approached with at least two strategies: a) evaluating the main arguments of so-called skeptics of "pseudoscience", and b) discussing the main demarcation criteria between science or pseudoscience proposed by the philosopher Mario Bunge. We take both approaches and will discuss some points to favor or against homeopathy. Since the beginning, Bunge's demarcation was considered as the most reliable "evidence" against homeopathy. A primary goal of this article is to provide some examples to illustrate the debate. At the end, this article demonstrates that the Bunge's demarcation is an act of faith that is ultimately completely invalid in comparison to the contemporary growing body of scientific evidence. On the basis of the discussion presented in the article, the Bunge's demarcation must not be used to provide any definitive categorizations. (AU)

Causes of Behavioral Processes: An Interview with Mario A. Bunge / Causas de los Procesos Comportamentales: Un diálogo con Mario Bunge

Mario A. Bunge is one of the most prominent philosophers and humanists of our time. His vast record of publications has covered, among others, episte-mology, ontology, ethics, philosophy of natural and social sciences, philosophy of technology, and philosophy of mind. A topic that intersects many of these areas and is recurrent in Bunge's work is causality. His analyses of the causal principle, and the redefinition of determinism into near-determinism have been applied to different philosophical issues that range from the causal role of neuronal functioning to the laws of social phenomena. Bunge has criticized functionalism, cognitivism, computationalism, behaviourism, and idealism in their attempt to explain human and non-human behaviour. This article results from an extensive interview held with Dr. Bunge in which we discussed a variety of conceptual issues related to the notions of causality and explanation in psychology.