My main intention in this article is to settle the question whether having the ability to \ is, as Ryleans think, necessary for knowing how to \, and to determine the kind of role played by procedural knowledge in knowing how to \ and in acquiring and possessing the ability to \. I shall argue, in a seemingly anti-Rylean fashion, that when it comes to know-hows that are ordinarily categorised as physical skills, or—to be, for the moment, philosophically neutral—as enabling (...) one to possess such skills, it is necessary to have procedural knowledge of how to \ in order to possess those know-hows. However, I shall contend that this knowledge cannot be acquired without acquiring the kind of ability to \ in which having the skill to \ consists. And that having acquired the ability to \ is not only necessary but also sufficient for having acquired procedural knowledge of how to succeed in \-ing. (shrink)

Ce travail, conduit avec rigueur et méthode par un jeune savant de Vienne, se place sous le parrainage du Prof. Otto Kresten et enrichit la collection fondée par le Prof. Paul Speck. Il comble une lacune et sera un outil irremplaçable aussi bien pour les byzantinistes que pour les arabisants, comme le sont — et le restent malgré l'inévitable usure du temps — les publications de E. W. Brooks, de L. Caetani, de A. A. Vasiliev, de M. Canard, de E. (...) Honigmann et de quelques autres, qui ont réussi à rétablir les liens entre deux mondes jadis si proches, mais que les spécialités universitaires ont aujourd'hui éloignés l'un de l'autre. (shrink)

We present a new approach to representation and acquisition of normative information for machine ethics. It combines an influential philosophical account of the fundamental structure of morality with argumentation theory and machine learning. According to the philosophical account, the deontic status of an action – whether it is required, forbidden, or permissible – is determined through the interaction of “normative reasons” of varying strengths or weights. We first provide a formal characterization of this account, by modeling it in(weighted) argumentation graphs. (...) We then use it to model ethical learning: the basic idea is to use a set of cases for which deontic statuses are known to estimate the weights of normative reasons in operation in these cases, and to use these weight estimates to determine the deontic statuses of actions in new cases. The result is an approach that has the advantages of both bottom-up and top-down approaches to machine ethics: normative information is acquired through the inter-action with training data, and its meaning is clear. We also report the results of some initial experiments with the model. (shrink)

A few months after the publication of the French translation of his book Causing Death and Saving Lives, Jonathan Glover was kind enough to return to some of the theses defended in this book. In forty years, this work has become a classic of applied ethics in the English-speaking world. Glover tackled a series of questions involving the lives of men and women, including abortion, infanticide, suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty and war. We asked him here about the method he (...) considers the best in moral philosophy, and returned to his criticism of certain dominant ideas at the time. Jonathan Glover also discusses some of the positions of his former students Peter Singer and Jeff McMahan. (shrink)

How is it possible for deontic evaluations of beliefs to be appropriate if we do not have voluntary control over our beliefs? Gaultier argues that we should reject the claim that we can have indirect control over beliefs in virtue of the basic voluntary control we have over our actions. We have another kind of indirect control over beliefs: we can demonstrate doxastic strength or, on the contrary, doxastic weakness when forming our beliefs. That is, we can resist or, on (...) the contrary, fail to resist the influence of some of our conative attitudes. And in the same way that we take our actions to be open to blame when they result from having demonstrated weakness of will even though this does not consist in doing something at will, we take our beliefs to be open to blame and hence subject to deontic evaluation, when they result from having demonstrated doxastic weakness even though this does not consist in doing something at will. (shrink)

This article addresses the treatment of individuals who experience conflict between their religious convictions and their same-sex attraction. Recently, attention has been drawn to the ethical issues involved in the practice of sexual reorientation therapy (SRT) with such conflicted individuals. This article reviews the ethical arguments for and against SRT through the lens of the general ethical principles of the American Psychological Association's (2002) ethics code. Practitioners are then challenged to think about how they might respond virtuously (Meara, Schmidt, & (...) Day, 1996) when presented with such a client. Thought questions are presented to assist therapists to develop in virtue while working with religious clients who are conflicted about same-sex desire. (shrink)

Dans cet article, nous proposons de lire la première des Méditations Métaphysiques de Descartes, non pas « selon l’ordre des raisons », mais du point de vue de sa vraisemblance clinique, comme le récit d’une expérience typique de désorganisation qui accompagne ordinairement l’éclosion des psychoses délirantes : depuis un sentiment d’étrangeté qui met en péril la croyance naïve dans la réalité du monde jusqu’au délire d’influence qui organise l’hypothèse du « malin génie ». Dans cette perspective, l’argument de la folie (...) n’est qu’un moment. Nous proposons de faire l’hypothèse que l’on peut mettre ce récit en regard de l’expérience singulière et traumatique de novembre 1619, consignée, selon A. Baillet, dans le recueil des Olympica. (shrink)

Jean-Claude SCHMITT, Les rythmes au Moyen Âge, Paris, Gallimard, 2016, 718 p. Le livre de Jean-Claude Schmitt sur les rythmes au Moyen Âge est une somme, qu'il importe de lire et de discuter. Fruit d'un travail de longue haleine, il résume à certains égards une vie entière de recherche, placée sous le signe d'une lecture anthropologique du monde médiéval, à la croisée de la réflexion sur le texte et sur l'image, laquelle abonde ici, faisant de ce volume un manuel d'interprétation (...) de l'iconographie - Recensions. (shrink)

Hox proteins are well‐known as developmental transcription factors controlling cell and tissue identity, but recent findings suggest that they are also part of the cell replication machinery. Hox‐mediated control of transcription and replication may ensure coordinated control of cell growth and differentiation, two processes that need to be tightly and precisely coordinated to allow proper organ formation and patterning. In this review we summarize the available data linking Hox proteins to the replication machinery and discuss the developmental and pathological implications (...) of this new facet of Hox protein function. (shrink)

In this book, Benoît Dubreuil explores the creation and destruction of hierarchies in human evolution. Combining the methods of archaeology, anthropology, cognitive neuroscience and primatology, he offers a natural history of hierarchies from the point of view of both cultural and biological evolution. This volume explains why dominance hierarchies typical of primate societies disappeared in the human lineage and why the emergence of large-scale societies during the Neolithic period implied increased social differentiation, the creation of status hierarchies, and, eventually, (...) political centralisation. (shrink)

English summary: Benoit Spinosa presents a much needed French biography and study of the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679). Spinosa discusses Hobbes controversial Leviathan and his unique understanding of the political machine in the Early Modern period. French description: Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), philosophe anglais, doit sa celebrite au Leviathan, a une conception de la souverainete politique longtemps jugee monstrueuse. Par-dela contresens et accusations, Hobbes est bien le premier penseur de la modernite a avoir voulu maitriser la machination politique comme la (...) science galileenne controlait les mecanismes naturels. Il eut l'idee d'un systeme global, allant du corps en general, chose physique, au corps politique engendre par la puissance humaine d'artifice, en passant par le corps humain, objet d'une anthropologie nouvelle qui s'appuie sur une vision originale du desir. Sans le langage, la science des corps serait pourtant impossible. C'est par l'imposition de noms, que les hommes peuvent se soustraire aux aleas de l'experience, construire des chaines de raisonnement et envisager ainsi les choix politiques que la necessite laisse ouverts. Dans un monde expose aux violences de la revolution et des conflits religieux, Hobbes a cherche les moyens rationnels de resister aux folies de l'histoire. La question n'est visiblement pas close. (shrink)

In this paper, I propose a new argument against Gettier’s counterexamples to the thesis that knowledge is justified true belief. I claim that if there is no doxastic voluntarism, and if it is admitted that one has formed the belief that p at t1 if, at t0, one would be surprised to learn or discover that not–p, it can be plausibly argued that Gettiered beliefs simply cannot be formed.

Comment penser l'être ou la nature indépendamment de la figure de l'ordre ou du monde? On pourrait caractériser par cette question le défi philosophique de Giordano Bruno. On sait qu'il conduit à une cosmologie infinitiste qui en constitue le versant le plus spectaculaire et le mieux connu. Le travail qui est ici présenté propose une autre voie, centrée autour de la pensée de l'« être un et infini » élaborée par Bruno dans le De la causa, qui constitue le noyau (...) théorique de sa philosophie. Partant d'une réflexion sur la puissance expressive des concepts philosophiques traditionnels (cause et principe, forme et matière, genre et différence) et rapportant les articulations de la pensée de l'être aux conditions de notre connaissance, et non à une structure propre de l'être, Bruno propose une interprétation « dialectique » du discours métaphysique qui fait procéder les formes d'éminence et d'analogie de l'activité figuratrice de la raison humaine. Si, selon une formule célèbre, le philosophe est un peintre et un poète, cela ne veut pas dire qu'il s'affranchisse des normes rationnelles du discours démonstratif pour se faire prophète, cela signifie que ces règles de la pensée ne constituent en aucun cas une grammaire de l'être : elles sont des instruments de figuration de l'être infini et univoque dont il s'agit de saisir tout à la fois la fécondité et les limites. Il s'agissait au départ de s'interroger sur les nouveaux enjeux de la philosophie de la Renaissance et sur ses pratiques discursives souvent si déroutantes. Ce travail tente ainsi de situer la pensée de Bruno par rapport à la critique humaniste des modi significandi médiévaux et de la conception architectonique de la philosophie, identifiable aussi bien dans le projet de réforme dialectique de Valla, dans le plurilinguisme philosophique de Pic de la Mirandole, que chez des auteurs aussi différents que Ficin ou Pomponazzi. (shrink)

Cet article vise à montrer que, malgré le peu d'importance que les études récentes de la philosophie hégélienne de la religion accordent aux écrits antérieurs à la Phénoménologie, l'analyse des Jugensdschriften reste indispensable : a) pour comprendre la genèse de la thèse, centrale dans la Religionsphilosophie, sur la différence entre la raison et l'entendement, b) pour reconnaître que la logique de l'absolu employée par la théologie hégélienne fut davantage le résultat de l'attachement de Hegel à son idéal de raison et (...) de sa critique du Kantisme, que le fruit de sa méditation du christianisme ; c) pour découvrir l'unité du développement de la pensée hégélienne.The aim of this paper is to show that, even though recent studies of Hegel's Philosophy of Religion do not consider important the analysis of his early writings for the reconstruction of his mature thought, the exegesis of the Jugendschriften remains indispensable : a) for understanding the genesis of a position which is central in Hegel's Religionsphilosophie, namely his thesis on the difference between intellect and reason ; b) for acknowledging that the logic of the absolute, used by Hegel's theology, was more the result of his attachement to an ideal of reason and of his critique of Kant, than the fruit of his meditation of Christianity ; c) for discovering the unity in the development of Hegel's thought. (shrink)

Penser l'expression de la croyance religieuse, la saisir en tant qu'acte de parole, expression qui soit conjointement langage et action, tel est l'objectif de cet ouvrage collectif. À travers des contributions issues d'horizons divers mais complémentaires, mobilisant en particulier les ressources de l'anthropologie sociale, de la philosophie du langage et de la phénoménologie radicale, l'ouvrage présente l'acte de dire la croyance religieuse selon ses dimensions constitutives, telles que son adresse, son énonciation ou sa réception. Décrire l'acte de dire la croyance, (...) c'est en effet replacer cet acte face à une réalité qu'il désigne et le réinsérer dans les pratiques d'un locuteur qui l'énonce et d'un interlocuteur qui le reçoit, que ce soit un individu ou une communauté. (shrink)

We study genericity and randomness with respect to ITTMs, continuing the work initiated by Carl and Schlicht. To do so, we develop a framework to study randomness in the constructible hierarchy. We then answer several of Carl and Schlicht’s question. We also ask a new question one the equality of two classes of randoms. Although the natural intuition would dictate that the two classes are distinct, we show that things are not as simple as they seem. In particular we show (...) that the categorical analogues of these two classes coincide, in contradiction with the natural intuition. Even though we are not able to answer the question for randomness in this article, we delineate and sharpen its contour and outline. (shrink)

t. 1. Introduction générale. Critique existentielle.--t. 2. Analytique existentielle.

Since the November 1991 elections, it has become a common statement to argue that Belgium has entered a -possibly unprecedented- period ofchange and instability. This article focuses on the evolution of the electoral system and electoral behaviour, in order to test this widely agreed-upon judgement. All things considered, one observes that the electoral system has not been radically modified since World War II. In spite of the transformation of the country into a federal state and several severe conflicts, political decision-makers (...) have opted for the 'fine-tuning" of the electoral system instead of radical reforms.As far as electoral behaviour is concerned, the picture is less clear. On one hand, relying on various indicators, one does observe that the early 1990s were characterised by change and transformation. On the other hand, one cannot conclude that the amplitude of change or instability in the early 1990s has been "exceptional" or "unprecedented" as compared with earlier periods.Building upon this ambiguous diagnosis, the author speculates on the probability of a major breakdown of the Belgian political system at the turn of the century. (shrink)

La réception de la théologie politique de Johann Baptist Metz est un fait d’interprétation. Cette contribution présente tout d’abord la périodisation, apparue dans les années 1980, de l’oeuvre de Metz en trois phases: la période de la théologie transcendantale; la première phase de la théologie politique ainsi que sa deuxième phase. Décrire deux phases de la théologie politique délimitées par la formulation de la thèse centrale de l’oeuvre de Metz, selon laquelle la foi est mémoire de la souffrance de l’humanité, (...) permet de mettre en lumière la signification et les enjeux de la théologie politique. La deuxième partie de l’article s’intéresse à un aspect encore sujet à discussions de la réception de l’oeuvre de Metz: en réponse au refus postmoderne des grands récits, Metz et ses disciples présentent la théologie politique comme une théologie négative. Cependant, une telle réponse peut-elle être séparée d’autres affirmations déterminantes pour la théologie politique, en particulier celle selon laquelle le temps a une fin? (shrink)

Les recompositions familiales touchent l’ensemble des liens familiaux et des liens intergénérationnels. Or, si l’on observe, tant sur le plan juridique que dans les pratiques des familles conjugales, une acception plus complexe et plus riche de la parentalité, les grands-parents restent souvent méconnus. Comment construisent-ils leurs rapports à leurs « beaux-petits-enfants »? Nous avons examiné la littérature et interrogé des « belles-grands-mères » pour tenter d’y voir plus clair. Quelles représentations le champ social offre-t-il des beaux-grands-parents? Et quelles sont concrètement (...) les conditions et les étapes qui rendent possible une identité « beau-grand-parentale »? (shrink)

The Prometheus myth has long now provided inspiration for those who envision solutions to environmental issues. Prometheus is the figure par excellence of human forethought and progress in the anthropocene. In this article, we introduce the concept of ambient Prometheanism to describe the way of thinking that foregrounds foresight and anticipation and advances technological solutions developed by capital and energy-intensive projects. We question this stance, arguing that ambient Prometheanism, with its emphasis on technofix, leads to the economisation and depoliticisation of (...) planetary environmental issues. Following Bernard Stiegler, we recover from the myth the figure of Epimetheus, Prometheus’ brother, as well as his associated faculty, epimetheia to theorise what we call an ‘Epimethean politics’. Thinking the anthropocene from the perspective of ambient Prometheanism and Epimetheanism means to consider the role of technology in climate politics, and in particular to make the case for the importance of afterthought in face of unintended consequences and accumulated errors. To substantiate our argument, we outline the challenge posed by emerging solutions focussed on technological intensification and socio-economic acceleration. An Epimethean politics of the climate requires to use reflexivity as a capacity to anticipate, but also to mobilise epimetheia to account for accidents and past mistakes. Such a politics builds from an alternative conception of technology, one that radically differs from ambient Prometheanism. Finally we read as actualisations of Epimethean politics contemporary eco-political struggles and their imperatives for multispecies living and convivial livelihoods. (shrink)

It is widely agreed that humans have specific abilities for cooperation and culture that evolved since their split with their last common ancestor with chimpanzees. Many uncertainties remain, however, about the exact moment in the human lineage when these abilities evolved. This article argues that cooperation and culture did not evolve in one step in the human lineage and that the capacity to stick to long-term and risky cooperative arrangements evolved before properly modern culture. I present evidence that Homo heidelbergensis (...) became increasingly able to secure contributions form others in two demanding Paleolithic public good games (PPGGs): cooperative feeding and cooperative breeding. I argue that the temptation to defect is high in these PPGGs and that the evolution of human cooperation in Homo heidelberngensis is best explained by the emergence of modern-like abilities for inhibitory control and goal maintenance. These executive functions are localized in the prefrontal cortex and allow humans to stick to social norms in the face of competing motivations. This scenario is consistent with data on brain evolution that indicate that the largest growth of the prefrontal cortex in human evolution occurred in Homo heidelbergensis and was followed by relative stasis in this part of the brain. One implication of this argument is that subsequent behavioral innovations, including the evolution of symbolism, art, and properly cumulative culture in modern Homo sapiens , are unlikely to be related to a reorganization of the prefrontal cortex, despite frequent claims to the contrary in the literature on the evolution of human culture and cognition. (shrink)

One of the first frameworks developed for understanding the relation of science and technology to the economy has been the linear model of innovation. The model postulated that innovation starts with basic research, is followed by applied research and development, and ends with production and diffusion. The precise source of the model remains nebulous, having never been documented. Several authors who have used, improved, or criticized the model in the past fifty years rarely acknowledged or cited any original source. The (...) model usually was taken for granted. According to others, however, it comes directly from V. Bush’s Science: The Endless Frontier. This article traces the history of the linear model, suggesting that it developed in three steps corresponding to three scientific communities looking at science analytically. The article argues that statistics is a main reason the model is still alive despite criticisms, alternatives, and having been proclaimed dead. (shrink)

La théologie de Karl Rahner mérite-t-elle le label de «classique»? Pour instruire le débat, l’article présente quatre dissertations doctorales récentes , ainsi qu’un ouvrage collectif, consacrés à l’oeuvre de Rahner. Nature et grâce, christologie et triadologie, théologie et anthropologie, athéisme et sciences naturelles, expérience et subjectivité, épistémologie et apologétique: les thèmes abordés par ces études témoignent de la diversité des questions traitées par le corpus rahnérien. De cet examen, trois lignes de force caractéristiques du style de cette théologie peuvent être (...) dégagées: modestie du langage théologique, rigueur des critères de validation, audace spéculative et systématique. En contrepoint critique, trois questions peuvent légitimement être avancées concernant l’universalité du langage employé et de l’expérience décrite, la fidélité au mystère et les points aveugles du système. Il y a fort à parier que l’avenir confirme le diagnostic qui s’impose à l’issue de cette étude, à savoir qu’il convient de considérer Rahner comme un classique de la discipline théologique pour avoir proposé, en un moment critique de son histoire, une voie de renouvellement tout à la fois grandiose et contestable. (shrink)

Normal 0 21 Minha intenção é a de mostrar como uma leitura cética dos diálogos socráticos de Platão permite explicar alguns impasses nos quais resulta a interpretação dogmática desses diálogos. Enumero aqui, de maneira programática, os elementos que permitirão sustentar que, nos diálogos de juventude, Platão desenvolveu uma lógica que conduz a uma posição forte sobre os limites do conhecimento e do intelectualismo. Essa interpretação se inspira em traços dominantes do ceticismo de Arcesilau (séc. III a.C.). Mostrarei como os diálogos (...) de Platão podem ser lidos como a inspiração por trás da posição de Arcesilau quando este afirma que seria preciso suspender o julgamento e, na falta de certeza, seguir o que é razoável ( eulogon ). De uma parte, o estudo do estatuto paradoxal da ignorância socrática e do papel do oráculo na Apologia permite discernir o funcionamento de uma lógica propícia a gerar aporias. De outra parte, a análise do problema da virtude-ciência no Protágoras e no Laques permite exibir os mecanismos de uma argumentação cuja conclusão é a impossibilidade de defender hic e nunc uma ética estritamente intelectualista. (shrink)

This article analyzes the links between state and society in the Arab world, before and after the 2011 uprisings. It sheds light on the impacts that these revolts have had both at the individual and collective levels, generating a renewed sense of citizenship. Two concepts, presentism and intersectionality, are used to stress and explain new constellations that were present in all initial revolts of 2011 and which generated new horizontal links among usually segmented portions of the population and vertical linkages (...) between citizens and the state. The article concludes with an inscription of these revolutionary practices in a longer perspective: By pointing to references made in 2011 to literary and political innovations of the Nahda period (Arab Renaissance in the early 20th century), the article suggests a re-reading of contemporary Arab history that breaks with the view of distinct cultural areas, reconnecting the “West” with the Middle East. (shrink)

I outline and criticise the received interpretation of the controversy between Clifford and James over the ethics of belief. I defend Clifford’s view by arguing that his maxim ‘that it is wrong, always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence’ should be understood as stating that any belief that results from the corruption of one’s judgement by one’s desires is wrong. I indicate what follows about religious beliefs in particular.

Grâce à une célèbre expérience de pensée impliquant un choix à effectuer entre deux paquets de cartes, Peirce estime avoir avancé un argument concluant en faveur de la thèse de l’enracinement social de la logique. Puisque cet argument repose sur une conception fréquentiste des probabilités, il va s’agir d’interroger cette conception et de se demander s’il est possible de défendre l’idée qu’il est rationnel pour un individu de fonder ses actions sur des estimations de probabilités sans avoir à endosser la (...) thèse peircienne de l’enracinement social de la logique. Après avoir souligné la réalité du problème soulevé par Peirce grâce à cette expérience de pensée et montré que le fréquentisme ne peut le résoudre, on se demandera si une conception propensionniste des probabilités pourrait y parvenir. (shrink)