Inner Institute

Alberto I. Vargas is Director of Inner Institute (Mexico) and Vice-President of the Leonardo Polo Institute of Philosophy (USA). He holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Navarra (Spain), Master’s in Government and Organizational Culture (University of Navarra, Spain), Master’s in Education (Universidad Villanueva, Spain) and Master’s in Public Policy (EGAP, Tec de Monterrey, Mexico).

He is a researcher at IMEESDEN (Mexican Institute of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of National Defense), member of the National System of Researchers of Conacyt (Level 1) and of the Mexican Association of Philosophy. He is a visiting professor at Strathmore University (Kenya), Anahuac University (Mexico), Leidenhoven College (Netherlands), Universidad Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo (Perú), Universidad Hemisferios (Ecuador), Universidad de La Sabana (Colombia), Universidad Panamericana (México), Universidad Monteavila (Venezuela) and Universidad de Piura (Perú).

He is the author of the books "Genealogy of Fear: an Anthropological Study of Modernity" (Universidad de Navarra), "Being and Gift: an Anthropological Game Theory" (Sindéresis) and "Searching the Personal Body: Beyond Nature and Subjectivity" (NUN).

Central line of research The gift structure of man and transcendental anthropology.

Areas of specialization Philosophical anthropology, Theory of action, Philosophy of culture, Leonardo Polo.

Areas of interest Political philosophy, Organizational theory, Philosophy of the family, Gregory of Nyssa.

Monterrey, México, 1983. I have a PhD Philosophy (Universidad de Navarra) and specialize in Medieval Philosophy and moral psychology, with a particular interest in Aristotle, Scotus, and Suárez.

Doctor en Filosofía por la Universidad de Navarra y Licenciado en Dirección de Centros Educativos por la Universidad Austral. Profesor, investigador y director académico en la Universidad Austral, especializado en filosofía, educación y liderazgo educativo.

Germán Scalzo holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy (summa cum laude) and a Master's degree in Government and Organizational Culture (with the highest distinction) from the University of Navarra, Spain, in addition to a bachelor’s degree in business from Austral University, Argentina. He completed research stays at prestigious universities such as the Vrije Universiteit (the Netherlands), the Pontificia Università della Santa Croce (Italy) and The Catholic University of America (USA), and within the Mind-Brain Group of the Institute for Culture and Society at the University de Navarra (Spain). He is currently in the middle of a research stay in the Philosophy department at the University of Navarra. He has been a visiting professor at universities in Argentina, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico, Spain, and Kenya. He has also participated in several summer schools, international seminars, and workshops in more than 25 countries. He has obtained numerous scholarships and distinctions, including a post-doctoral fellowship from Carolina Foundation, six projects as a principal researcher from the UP Research Fund, first place in the Iberoamerican Ethics & Trust in Finance Global Prize in Switzerland, in 2013, and the Universitas prize from the Universidad Panamericana, in 2019. His cross-disciplinary research focuses on how philosophy can inform economics and business. He is currently developing an ethics of work in light of virtue ethics. He has published with around 35 academics from more than fifteen universities and business schools, from a variety of different disciplines (e.g., philosophy, moral psychology, education, theology, religious studies, economics, business ethics, organization theory). He has co-authored 10 books, as well as 27 book chapters at prestigious publishers such as Routledge, Springer, Palgrave, Emerald, EUNSA, and Edward Elgar. He has also published numerous scientific publications in journals indexed in SCOPUS and WOS. In terms of general quality indicators regarding his scientific production, he has 46 publications and 188 citations (H-index: 7) in SCOPUS (Author ID: 57189442501) and 570 citations (H-index: 13) in Google Scholar. He served as the secretary of the Political Economy and Philosophy Research Group from 2008 to 2013 and as the executive director of the ALENE from 2016 to 2018, as well as participated as a member of academic societies (e.g., ISBEE, SBE; EBEN; HMN, ESHET). He has also served as a member of examining boards both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and as a reviewer for several international journals, and as a member of the editorial boards of scientific journals. He has supervised students completing undergraduate, graduate and doctoral studies. He is currently a tenured full professor of Business Ethics at the Universidad Panamericana’s Faculty of Economic and Business and a member of the Mexican National Research System Since 2016.

ORCID: 0000-0003-4176-793X

Me hace mucha ilusión la docencia y la investigación interdisciplinar, partiendo de la base filosófica. Por ello cuando estudié filosofía en la Universidad me interesé por las ciencias de la educación, para poder transmitir los grandes descubrimientos filosóficos, especialmente en la Antropología filosófica y sus diferentes ramas, posteriormente, cuando me invitaron a dar clases en la escuela de Dirección, en el Programa de Alta Dirección para empresarios de mucho nivel, empecé la carrera de Administración de Empresas, para poder enseñar mejor la antropología filosófica y también para tratar de enfocar el dinero, las finanzas, la economía, la dirección, etc., con el método filosófico. Mi tesis doctoral ha sido sobre la unidad de la vida humana: 1) unidad cuerpo y alma, 2) unidad de la vida teórica (integración interdisciplinar de los saberes) y 3) la unidad de la vida práctica (Ética empresarial, educativa, política, etc.), básicamente en dos autores: Aristóteles (s. IV a. C.) y Leonardo Polo (s. XX d. C.). Así, desde que empecé la tesis doctoral y esa línea de investigación señalada, en esta treintena de años no he dejado de sorprenderme de la fecundidad y alcance de dicho tema así como de aquellos filósofos -Aristóteles y L. Polo-, lo que me ha llevado a procurar estar en constante diálogo con maestros, empresarios, políticos, etc., en que cada vez y en cada caso he podido comprobar la importancia de la verdad sobre el ser humano, la hondura y maravilla de la persona humana y su manifestación en la sociedad. Fruto de esos estudios son la casi una docena de libros y los diferentes papers que he ofrecido a la consideración de mis colegas y del público interesado en las grandes cuestiones antropológicas, especialmente las de nuestra época. Actualmente trabajo en la profundización y expansión del legado de Leonardo Polo, he participado en la edición de 2 volúmenes de sus Obras Completas -el N. XV/tomo II y el N. XXXIV/tomo II-, así como en los 3 volúmenes de testimonios sobre la vida y magisterio de Leonardo Polo: "Filósofo, maestro y amigo". En lo que respecta a la docencia, el libro "Hacia el descubrimiento del ser personal" recoge mis apuntes de clases de Antropología filosófica y el libro "Virtudes del trabajo profesional" recoge parte de mis apuntes de clases de Ética. Actualmente he vuelto a la primera parte de mi tesis: unidad cuerpo y alma, así como a la segunda parte de distintos niveles y actos de conocimiento humano para poder encajar bien la IA, su alcance y su influjo en nuestras vidas.

After fifteen years of teaching at secondary and upper-secondary level in Spanish schools, I made a professional transition to research in 2012 with the aim of contributing to educational improvement by studying the quality and promotion of interpersonal relationships in the classroom and their emotional impact. My academic background is highly interdisciplinary: I hold degrees in Civil Engineering, Philosophy, and Theology, as well as a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and a Master’s degree in Bioethics. I obtained an International PhD (cum laude) in Education from the University of Navarra, where I worked as a researcher in the Mind–Brain Group at the Institute for Culture and Society, leading the research line on emotional education, which constitutes my main field of research. This work is complemented by related areas, particularly educational neuroscience and developmental psychology.

I am currently an educational advisor and consultant at the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria in the fields of pedagogy and educational research. I have also served as Director of the Calasanz Institute of Educational Sciences (ICCE), an institution dedicated to psychoeducational assessment and educational publishing. I currently serve as President of the Fundación Acompañando el Crecimiento, which focuses on the personal and professional development of educators. This trajectory has allowed me to maintain a consistently interdisciplinary approach integrating philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.

I have been awarded research grants from Fundación Caja Navarra, the University of Navarra, and the private company GEDESCO. My academic output includes 35 journal articles (11 in Q1 journals), an H-index of 14 (Google Scholar), 23 book chapters (10 in SPI Q1 publishers), 4 specialized academic books (2 in SPI Q1 publishers), 65 conference presentations, and 65 seminars focused on teacher training. In addition, I have carried out extensive dissemination work, including 16 educational and training books, as well as publications in widely circulated newspapers and magazines in the field of education.

In my research activity, I have established collaborations with other universities, including the University of Reading (UK) on psychological research topics and UPAEP (Mexico), and I am currently affiliated with the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Spain). I combine basic research with educational implementation, as in 2014 I founded the educational project Acompañando el Crecimiento, which I currently direct. Through this project, I have developed partnerships with various institutions, enabling the development of university-level teacher training programs positively evaluated by university quality assessment committees and the implementation of the educational model. The program is currently implemented in several cities and schools across Spain, Cameroon, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Brazil.

I have participated in four competitive research projects at regional and national level and one international project. I serve as a member of the editorial board and reviewer for one international educational research journal and as a reviewer for another. This trajectory has significantly strengthened both academic research and social impact and has provided multiple international platforms for this interdisciplinary work aimed at improving education through socio-emotional learning. Finally, I have taught at undergraduate and postgraduate levels nationally and internationally and have developed teaching materials for both teachers and students.

Alberto I. Vargas is Director of Inner Institute (Mexico) and Vice-President of the Leonardo Polo Institute of Philosophy (USA). He holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Navarra (Spain), Master’s in Government and Organizational Culture (University of Navarra, Spain), Master’s in Education (Universidad Villanueva, Spain) and Master’s in Public Policy (EGAP, Tec de Monterrey, Mexico).

He is a researcher at IMEESDEN (Mexican Institute of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of National Defense), member of the National System of Researchers of Conacyt (Level 1) and of the Mexican Association of Philosophy. He is a visiting professor at Strathmore University (Kenya), Anahuac University (Mexico), Leidenhoven College (Netherlands), Universidad Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo (Perú), Universidad Hemisferios (Ecuador), Universidad de La Sabana (Colombia), Universidad Panamericana (México), Universidad Monteavila (Venezuela) and Universidad de Piura (Perú).

He is the author of the books "Genealogy of Fear: an Anthropological Study of Modernity" (Universidad de Navarra), "Being and Gift: an Anthropological Game Theory" (Sindéresis) and "Searching the Personal Body: Beyond Nature and Subjectivity" (NUN).

Central line of research The gift structure of man and transcendental anthropology.

Areas of specialization Philosophical anthropology, Theory of action, Philosophy of culture, Leonardo Polo.

Areas of interest Political philosophy, Organizational theory, Philosophy of the family, Gregory of Nyssa.

Juan Fernando Sellés Dauder (Alicante, 1961) holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Navarra (1994). He is currently a Professor of Anthropology at this academic institution, where he teaches courses in Anthropology, Theory of Knowledge, Ethics, and History of Philosophy (Ancient, Medieval, Modern, and Contemporary). Although he has taught 15 different philosophy subjects, his two preferred research areas have always been Anthropology and the Theory of Knowledge.

He has been a visiting professor at the following international universities: Notre Dame University (USA), Universidad Panamericana (Mexico), Universidad del Istmo (Guatemala), Universidad de La Sabana (Colombia), Universidad de Los Hemisferios (Ecuador), Universidad de Piura (Peru), Universidad de Los Andes (Chile), Universidad Austral (Argentina), Facultade Mar Atlántico (Brazil), and Strathmore University (Kenya). He has supervised 26 doctoral theses and 50 Master's final projects.

Among his other publications, he has authored 60 books, more than 300 journal articles or book chapters, and 29 entries in philosophical dictionaries. He has also edited 17 books and co-edited 9. He currently directs the journal Studia Poliana.

I studied philosophy at the Catholic University of Argentina (Buenos Aires) and completed it at the University of Navarra (Pamplona, ​​Spain), where I obtained my PhD in 1980. I have been a professor of Philosophy at the Urbaniana University (Rome) (1984-1995) and at the University of the Holy Cross (Rome) (1990-2020. I served as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of the Holy Cross (1998-2002). I am currently a Professor of Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy of Austral University (Buenos Aires). I have published 23 books and approximately 150 scholarly articles on philosophical topics. My specialization is epistemology and philosophy of mind. I have supervised approximately 50 doctoral dissertations. I participated in the STOQ (Science and Theology, the Ontological Quest) project at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Faculty of Philosophy, 2007-2010). I have been a visiting professor of Philosophy at the University of Navarra, at Abat Oliva University (Barcelona) and at numerous Latin American universities (Argentine Catholic University in Buenos Aires, National University of Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina), Catholic University of San Juan (Argentina), Catholic University of La Plata (Argentina), La Punta University (San Luis, Argentina), Catholic University of Salta (Argentina), St. Thomas University (Tucumán, Argentina), Montevideo University (Uruguay), Los Andes University (Santiago, Chile), Catholic University of Saint Paul (Arequipa, Perú), Upaep University (Pueblo, México), La Sabana University (Chía, Colombia). Member of the Roman Academy of Saint Thomas. Member of the Sociedad Tomista Argentina.

Monterrey, México, 1983. I have a PhD Philosophy (Universidad de Navarra) and specialize in Medieval Philosophy and moral psychology, with a particular interest in Aristotle, Scotus, and Suárez.

Nací en Quito, Ecuador en 1955. Soy Doctora en Ciencias de la Educación y en Filosofía por la Universidad de Navarra. Con estudios previos en Ciencias Políticas y Derecho, he dedicado gran parte de su trabajo a la enseñanza de Filosofía y a la dirección de centros y proyectos educativos. Entre otras funciones, me he desempeñado como profesora universitaria en las Facultades de Comunicación, Psicología y Administración de la PUCE, y en la Facultad de Derecho de la UDLA.  Profesora titular de la cátedra de Antropología en la Universidad de Los Hemisferios, así como Directora de Docencia y de Currículum  y Decana de la Facultad de Artes y Humanidades por varios periodos en la misma Universidad. Actualmente soy profesora  e investigadora Senior de Inner Institute en México.  Autora del libro “La persona como libertad creciente en la Antropología Trascendental de Leonardo Polo”, ha publicado numerosos artículos científicos y participado en congresos internacionales de Filosofía y Educación. Profesora invitada en Perú, Argentina, Colombia y Kenia.

She holds a PhD in Psychology from the Complutense University of Madrid and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Navarra. She also holds a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership awarded by the Ministry of Education and Science and Fomento de Centros de Enseñanza. She currently co-directs the Centre for Character and Human Growth, a multidisciplinary research and knowledge-transfer centre at Universidad Villanueva. She is accredited by Spain’s National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) with the rank of Profesor Titular de Universidad (Associate Professor)

She is a member of the Spanish Society for the History of Psychology, the Association for Moral Education, the Spanish Association for Personalism, and the Leonardo Polo Institute of Philosophical Studies. She serves on the Scientific Committee of the American journal Journal of Polian Studies, and on the International Advisory Board of the series European Proceedings of the International Conference on Education and Educational Psychology (EpICEEPSY 2020–2023), which is indexed in Web of Science. She also reviews scientific articles for journals in Psychology, Education, and Philosophy.

She has been a visiting researcher at Harvard University, the University of Navarra, and the University of Valencia. She is the author of several books, including Neurociencia y Afectividad. La psicología de Juan Rof Carballo (Erasmus, 2012), and the editor of La familia y sus ámbitos, published by Porrúa (Mexico) in 2016. She wrote the foreword to the most recent book on Juan Rof Carballo, Medicina, Psicología, Antropología (Dykinson, 2023). To date, she has published more than 50 scientific articles and book chapters in Spain and abroad. Her work addresses topics such as the emotional world, interpersonal bonds, and human freedom, bringing together psychological, philosophical, and educational perspectives. She has presented papers at more than 45 national and international conferences. She has supervised doctoral theses, Master’s dissertations, and undergraduate final projects, and has taken part in research projects at various universities and institutions. She is an external collaborator of the Education of Affectivity and Human Sexuality Research Group (EASH) on a project concerning affective maturity in adults, and of the Mind-Brain Research Group since 2019, both at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra. She has also taken part in projects funded by the Ministry of Education and Science and collaborated on others supported by the John Templeton Foundation (USA).

She has carried out her teaching and research work at Universidad Villanueva as Associate Professor of Psychology of Motivation and Emotion and Anthropological and Sociological Foundations of Behaviour on the Psychology degree. She is currently a lecturer in The Educational Model on the Master’s in Educational Leadership.

Between 2013 and 2015, she was also a lecturer and researcher at Universidad Panamericana (Guadalajara Campus, Mexico), where she taught General Psychology and Human Affectivity.