Peut-on mieux caractériser autrement Hannah Arendt que par la passion de comprendre, par cette large appétence à saisir l'inédit du monde dans toute sa complexité? Introduite en France depuis une vingtaine d'années seulement, la philosophe, qui a toujours entretenu un rapport tumultueux avec la philosophie, y est considérée aujourd'hui comme un auteur majeur grâce à des ouvrages comme Les Origines du totalitarisme, La Crise de la culture ou La Condition de l'homme moderne. On ne cesse de la citer, de la (...) lire ou de s'y référer, tant dans le domaine philosophique que dans les sciences politiques ou sociales. Mais comment connaître davantage son itinéraire Intellectuel et l'articulation d'une pensée forte, qui touche à des domaines aussi divers? Comment percevoir les intuitions clés d'Hannah Arendt au-delà d'une seule approche événementielle? Philosophe de formation, elle aussi, Martine Leibovici invite ici à mieux découvrir ou redécouvrir la cohérence et l'originalité d'une réflexion qui marque en profondeur le XXe siècle. (shrink)

One's gender is merely an important subset of choosing one's form. By “form” I mean that which encloses our beingness – flesh for the life we are accustomed to, plastic for the robots of science fiction, mere data for the avatars taking over our computer screens.

Susan Kahn rend compte dans cet ouvrage d’une recherche ethnographique menée en Israël sur l’usage des nouvelles techniques de reproduction et sur les interrogations qu’elles soulèvent concernant la parenté, la paternité, la maternité et la fabrique de citoyens juifs. Son travail s’appuie sur des entretiens avec des Israéliennes non mariées qui ont eu recours à une insémination artificielle, des rabbins et des juifs orthodoxes, ainsi que sur une observation participante dans une clinique de...

Journal of Philosophy of Education, EarlyView.

Kenelm Digby’s Two Treatises, of the Nature of Bodies and of the Nature of Mans Soule defends quite an idiosyncratic approach to mind-body dualism. In his use of the divisibility argument to prove that the human soul cannot be a material substance, Digby takes an uncompromising stand for merely potential material parts. In his Treatise of Bodies the present article focuses on the mode of construction of the definition of quantity as divisibility and on its links to two distinct fundamental (...) arguments against the actual material parts doctrine. The first, positive, argument consists of a semantic reason drawn from Digby’s general doctrine of meaning, whereas the second, negative, argument, addresses the traditional question of the composition of the continuum. The latter, the author contends, does not build on the medieval controversy itself, but on Digby’s opposition to Galileo’s claim of indivisibilism in his Dialogues Concerning Two Sciences. (shrink)

An adaptation of an occupational therapy journal has been set up to support trainees in the development of their reflective competencies. A suggestion had been made to write a reflexive statement during their clinical experience. However, the implementation of this pedagogical reflexive approach proved difficult to implement given that it depended on the student’s initiative or the supervisor’s willingness to use them. Following this observation, an evaluation of the project was carried out. This article presents the results of this evaluation (...) process. This approach intended to 1. describe the rationale for using reflective journals in occupational therapy; 2. document the impact of reflective writing in occupational therapy; 3. briefly assess the use of reflective statements; 4. describe elements to be considered in assessing the quality of reflections. The evaluation process made possible to retain several elements from the research and theoretical concepts to support the assessment of the reflection. (shrink)

In A History of Florence, Machiavelli recounts revolts, especially of the Ciompi of 1378, which display the repeated surfacings of the desire for freedom navigating ceaselessly between the desire to abolish freedom through the recourse to absolute power and moments when virtue triumphs over fortuna and achieves an order that, while fragile, makes the antagonisms fit in such a way that instead of fights they become debates. For Machiavelli, the speeches made in these situations serve to both analyze the circumstances (...) within which the struggles take on meaning and to display the desire for freedom carving out its path using the energy deployed via the negativity of the desire not to be dominated. Key Words: Ciompi • domination • Florence • guilds • license • Machiavelli • non-domination. (shrink)

In ethics, the use of empirical data has become more and more popular, leading to a distinct form of applied ethics, namely empirical ethics. This 'empirical turn' is especially visible in bioethics. There are various ways of combining empirical research and ethical reflection. In this paper we discuss the use of empirical data in a special form of Reflective Equilibrium (RE), namely the Network Model with Third Person Moral Experiences. In this model, the empirical data consist of the moral experiences (...) of people in a practice. Although inclusion of these moral experiences in this specific model of RE can be well defended, their use in the application of the model still raises important questions. What precisely are moral experiences? How to determine relevance of experiences, in other words: should there be a selection of the moral experiences that are eventually used in the RE? How much weight should the empirical data have in the RE? And the key question: can the use of RE by empirical ethicists really produce answers to practical moral questions? In this paper we start to answer the above questions by giving examples taken from our research project on understanding the norm of informed consent in the field of pediatric oncology. We especially emphasize that incorporation of empirical data in a network model can reduce the risk of self-justification and bias and can increase the credibility of the RE reached. (shrink)

The question of the professionalisation of the actors often makes debate because it could imply that an actor who professionalises is not a good professional even that he is not qualified. This position is all the more reinforced when these actors live moments of professional transition, where the doubts and the uncertainties come to push aside their professional identity. How consequently as well as possible to accompany them at best in these moments which re-questioning? This article aims at showing how (...) by a reflexive plan of training- action an approach of professionalisation can be, a process of construction of the subjects which allows them to become aware of their luggage of experiment, their professionality and, on the other hand which contributes to the construction of their posture of apprenance. It is about a process in movement which joins in the philosophy of the training and the orientation throughout the life, in which the subject has to recognize itself as an actor in the work, as an author of its work and as a subject in work on its constructive activity supporting its development thus. (shrink)

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a remote sensing technology. It needs no ambient light, nor the guidance of the human eye to capture and reproduce a likeness of the world around us. Although LiDAR generates a constant stream of technical literature, LiDAR images, once envisaged for their aesthetic and expressive value, seem to call for alternative modes of analysis. How do we approach the fast-expanding archive of scanner images? How do we adequately describe the intriguing, spectral visualizations that its (...) blind process of recording produces? Following a general introduction, I look at Anouk De Clerk’s filmThing(2013), a work entirely comprised of LiDAR images. De Clerk encourages us to envisage LiDAR counterintuitively, not as the product of technological novelty, but as part of an interdisciplinary history of the arts. (shrink)

Queer Ethics and the Face of the Other In this paper I critically engage with Levinas’ ethical theory in order to formulate a queer ethics that is based on non-identity. Queer phenomenology shows us how our public space excludes bodies that do not fit within the heterosexual and cisgender norms and categorizes these bodies as disruptive forces to an orientated, stable space. In this paper I will develop an queer ethics that can offer a moral basis to queer phenomenology. I (...) will use Levinas’ ethical relation to conceptualize an ethics of non-identity in which the other remains wholly other. I will show how Levinas’ sexualized phenomenology can particularly serve queer phenomenology. In his early work, Levinas describes the becoming of the self as a movement away from absurd, meaningless being (il y a). The movement away from meaningless being is seen by Levinas as the desire to usurp the world. The self wants to continue its own enjoyment and tries to secure its position in the world. It is in the end the Face of the Other that can peacefully resist the self’s tendency to usurp the world. I will show how the Face differs from the feminine Other and will show how the Face who falls outside of the heterosexual cisgender norms, can be seen as queer. In the end I will outline a queer ethics as a being questioned by the otherness or queerness of the other in which we are willing to give up our privileged position in the world. (shrink)

This new and moving translation of the Brahma's Net Sutra also includes translations of ancillary materials not previously available. Translated and introduced by the well-known teacher and author Martine Batchelor, this should become a classic for all those who aspire to the compassion of the Buddha. "The Buddha gave clear instructions about how a boddhisattva should preserve and nurture the altruistic aspiration to enlightenment that are contained in the scriptures of the various Mahayana traditions. The Boddhisattva Precepts found in (...) the Brahma's Net Sutra of the Chinese and Korean traditions have laid the foundation of an ethical way of life and the essential ground to a life of compassion for many Buddhists in East Asia since ancient times. We live in an era in which I believe it is extremely important to foster harmony and respect among all religious traditions. Therefore, I believe it is significant that such a seminal text be made more widely in an English translation and I congratulate the translator, the International Sacred Literature Trust and AltaMira Press for making this book, _The Path of Compassion_, available. Readers, whether or not they are Buddhist, will find that these precepts encourage us, in a very practical way, to protect life in all its forms and work towards a more peaceful and understanding world; goals that we all can admire." —from the foreword by H. H. The Dalai Lama. (shrink)

« Notre monde recèle autant de possibilités immenses que de gigantesques échecs. »La gauche détient les clefs pour redonner un avenir à la France et à l’Europe. Plus de solidarité, plus d’égalité, plus de règles, plus de respect de l’autre et le retour du sens de l’intérêt général face à l’argent roi sont les talismans du progrès retrouvé. Le combat politique avec..

Les violences subies pendant l’enfance peuvent gravement affecter le développement et la santé des mineurs. La clinique de la violence chez l’enfant et l’adolescent et son traitement sont très spécifiques. Pédiatres et médecins légistes ont ainsi créé la Société française de pédiatrie médico-légale ( sfpml ) afin de penser les violences faites aux mineurs, du repérage à l’expertise, pour proposer des actions adaptées à leur particulière vulnérabilité et penser la prévention. L’enfant doit être un sujet de soins et non pas (...) un objet d’investigation. La pédiatrie médico-légale promeut une pratique intégrée dans une dynamique de parcours de soins. L’expérimentation nationale « Santé protégée » a pour objectif d’améliorer la santé globale de ces enfants et adolescents en facilitant l’accès aux soins, le suivi et la coordination. Il paraît important aujourd’hui de mener des actions de prévention et de soins et d’assurer un accompagnement sécurisant des enfants pour limiter l’impact des violences et leur permettre de bien grandir. (shrink)

Résumé Le refus par Arnauld, en 1641, de la thèse cartésienne d’une fausseté des idées, et non des seuls jugements, est habituellement analysé en fonction de l’admission, vue comme un revirement sous l’influence des Quatrièmes réponses, des idées de la sensation comme idées fausses dans la Logique. J’essaie au contraire de rapporter ce refus seulement aux textes des Méditations et des Premières réponses qui lui servent d’appui. Arnauld construit son objection en sorte que la thèse des idées fausses apparaisse en (...) contradiction avec la doctrine cartésienne même des idées. Ce n’est nullement la fausseté des idées de la sensation, mais la fausseté des idées tout court, qui est sa cible, et ses écrits ultérieurs manifestent une forme de continuité avec les raisons de sa critique initiale, plutôt qu’un simple abandon de cette dernière. (shrink)

In the last two decades, Ralph Cudworth has been acknowledged as one of the paramount figures in the history of theories of consciousness. This paper discusses the interpretation defended by Udo Thiel and Vili Lähteenmäki. Both contend that, for Cudworth, the reflexivity defining consciousness does not constitute self-consciousness, which, they say, requires self-determination for practical ends. On the contrary, I argue that for Cudworth any degree of consciousness implies a species of self-perception that must be considered a degree of self-consciousness. (...) To do justice to Cudworth’s full position, I claim, we must take into account a kind of consciousness that I call ‘to-oneself ’ consciousness. Furthermore, I argue, the problem of the ethical self-formation of every human soul as one personality should be seen as going beyond the mere consideration of practical rationality. (shrink)

In this article I compare the linguistic skepticism of Levinas to that of the early Daoist skepticism of the Zhuangzi. I will argue that both Levinas as the Zhuangzi use skepticism as a therapeutic tool to question the rigid use of language and to create an openness in the self in which the self is inspired by something more than itself. For Levinas, language is primarily a response-ability; language ultimately refers to the absolute responsibility to the Other. For the Zhuangzi, (...) words are simply too rigid to attune to the subtle differences and changes in the world. Through carefree wandering, the self becomes more receptive to the unfolding of the way (Dao). Both the Zhuangzi as Levinas see language not only as a system of references that is able to convey the world, but also see language as communication; as a response to the outside world. For Levinas, this response-ability is aimed at the Other and is primarily an ethical demand. For the Zhuangzi, genuine language is more a spontaneous receptivity; a wandering with words in which words are open to different interpretations and perspectives. In the end of this article I will argue that Levinas and the Zhuangzi see language as a communicative praxis that mirrors receptivity and passivity. (shrink)

La manifestation artistique Mothership (Nantes, 2010), conçue par Michaël Sellam, artiste invité à l'école des beaux-arts de Nantes, autour d'un scénario inspiré du cinéma de science-fiction et de " mondes parallèles ", nous a permis de mener un questionnement inédit portant sur le travail d'artistes émergents faisant appel aux techniques du numérique (son, multimédia...) Si les oeuvres ont été abordées sous l'angle classique de l'analyse voire de la psychanalyse, et de la déconstruction, elles ont surtout été le point de départ (...) de discussions et réflexions philosophiques originales prenant appui sur une théorie des appareils - à distinguer des simples dispositifs et systèmes de communication - visant à appréhender les enjeux actuels de l'art et de la culture, innervés par une techno-science qui se voudrait porteuse d'espoir et d'utopie, quand elle se trouve bien souvent emportée dans des dérives commerciales, totalitaires et sectaires : l'individu, pris dans une temporalité vide, effrénée, et dépossédé d'une technique qu'il n'a pu intérioriser, se retrouve prolétarisé (Stiegler). Quelles seraient les alternatives à un tel phénomène? Comment, par l'expérience, matérialiser les immatériaux. La figure polymorphe - à la fois fantastique, imaginaire, sociale et politique - de l'extraterrestre (étranger, handicapé, hérétique, parasite, fou, génie, monstre, ange ou sauveur...) s'est progressivement imposée, nous conduisant à interroger les problématiques portant sur la différence et sur les différends qu'elle suscite, sur l'errance, la spectralité, l'événement et l'univers infini, l'archaïque et l'ultramoderne... Le rapport entre art et croyance, science et idéologie, foi et savoir (Derrida) s'est révélé déterminant dans notre réflexion, la pierre angulaire se situant dans la technique, potentiellement aliénante du fait des normes qu'elle met en jeu, ou au contraire émancipatrice, quand elle parvient à dépasser sa condition hylémorphique. (shrink)