Summary Bodin's Colloquium Heptaplomeres is one of the most important clandestine manuscripts of the early modern period. A fascinating dialogue between seven different religions it tackles some of the main debates of the early modern era. It has long in the historiography been recognised as a key text promoting toleration. However, a close reading of the text and a focus on the way in which it used and debated written authorities (from ancient literature to the Scriptures) directs us toward another (...) crucial issue of the period. Indeed, it challenges and questions received authorities by making use of the dialogue form to question each in turn. Each character relies on the likes of Aristotle, Augustine or the Bible to support their views only to see them challenged by the others through the use of counter interpretations or other authorities. This leads to seeing the text as fundamentally embedded in the sceptical arguments developing at the time, as noted by early modern readers who voiced their concerns about the way in which this text led to doubt, rather than about the potential toleration it promoted. (shrink)

Along with Machiavelli, Hobbes is usually regarded as the pre-eminent representative of the ‘power-politics’ school of classical realism. He is frequently quoted for his pessimistic depiction of the state of nature that he so famously described as a brutal and anarchic arena in which each individual seeks his own advantage to the detriment of all other individuals, in a perpetual struggle for power. As reflective of this, political realism is sometimes even named the ‘Hobbesian tradition’. Yet there is reason to (...) question whether the standard characterization of realism as a form of moral scepticism which ‘resists the application of morality to war’ provides an accurate description of Hobbes’s political philosophy. In this essay I examine Hobbes’s conception of war, in order to show how, in some fundamental respects, it deviates from this ‘realism’. (shrink)

En allemand moderne, les GN dépourvus d’actualisateur et soumis à l’indice de singulier (type [ØN]sg) encodent une visée non discrète et non définie. En ancien-haut-allemand, le marquage des catégories nominales est en cours d’élaboration, et l’interprétation d’un GN réduit à sa base (soumis à l’indice de singulier) émerge du contexte d’emploi. Dans l’exposé qui suit, on présentera les différentes interprétations sémantiques possibles pour la forme de GN [ØN]sg, dans le corpus de Otfrid (860), en analysant quels signes coprésents dans l’énoncé (...) guident le récepteur dans son travail interprétatif, en distinguant des contextes actualisants et des contextes désactualisants. Ce faisant, on s’interrogera sur le degré de grammaticalisation de l’opposition /discret/~/non discret/ dans cet état de langue. (shrink)

Among the controversial theological texts which gave rise to institutional opposition to Catholic hierarchy at Port-Royal, the treatise De la foy humaine, dated 20 August 1664 and probably secretly published in Paris, takes an original stance on the distinction between science, faith, and opinion. This was originally developed in Port-Royal Logic two years previously. The contentious argumentation in De la foy humaine, centred on the role of mediation in the construction of a belief, is linked to the series of texts (...) that were created in response to the controversy surrounding Jansen’s Five Propositions. The treatise was a reaction to the Port-Royal nuns being forced to sign a form recognising the heresy of the Jansenist book Augustinus by Hardouin de Péréfixe, the new Archbishop of Paris, or risk excommunication. Contrary to its presentation as an abuse of power, the treatise sought to give rational criticism a place and called for the right to disobey untruthful authority. It makes discerning a fundamental Christian requirement necessary: Arnaud and Nicole consider exercising the human conscience within the Augustian conception of the interior master. The argument does not rest on an anachronistic freedom of conscience but on the possibility for man to reasonably submit, despite the difficulty in rationally submitting. (shrink)

Delphine Abadie Malgré une historiographie riche de plusieurs orientations, les imaginaires, la recherche et les débats académiques semblent parfois demeurer enfermés dans l’exigence d’un devoir-être de la philosophie africaine tout à fait caractéristique du seul moment ethnophilosophique. Pourtant, les avenues les plus récentes en philosophie africaine partagent un ensemble de présupposés qui rendent inopérante cette confrontation stérile entre un type de philosophie qui désignerait la « véritable » manière de décoloniser les épistémologies africaines, et toutes les autres formes de (...) la philosophie en Afrique. Depuis les années 1980, on doit constater pourtant que la plupart des philosophes du continent ont emprunté des avenues qui nous éloignent de ce premier moment décolonial de l’« authenticité africaine » en internalisant les critiques développées durant les plusieurs décennies qu’a duré la fameuse querelle de la philosophie africaine. Éclairé par la distinction entre approche décoloniale et approche postcoloniale, cet article propose une relecture des chemins parcourus, des détours et des mutations opérées par la philosophie africaine telle qu’elle s’est développée dans l’espace francophone depuis les années 1940 jusqu’à nos jours. (shrink)

This clinical vignette stems from French research into sedative practices and their influence on bereavement in spouses of cancer patients. We worked with hospital departments to recruit participants. They were offered a questionnaire and were invited to a research interview. This led us to explore the various issues that palliative care providers may face, including their relationship with the patient’s loved ones, questions about bereavement, and how best to support the bereaved. Feelings of bereavement are difficult to put into words, (...) and there is often concern that talking about it may increase the suffering of the person concerned. The question we raise in this case study is whether fears about talking about bereavement come from the bereaved person or from the caregiver. In other words, for whom is talking about bereavement more painful? This point relates to two ethical challenges in our study: first, we seek to better understand the relationship between spouses of cancer patients and healthcare providers, starting with how to narrate the experience of grief. The second question relates to the ethics of research and specifically the possibility of including patients and family members in the research process. (shrink)

Rendant compte des travaux récents dans le champ de l’étude sociales des sciences (Social Studies of Knowledge), de la critique féministe des sciences et des cultural studies, cet article revient sur leurs apports et sur la façon dont ils lisent l’histoire des transformations biomédicales (très) contemporaines, notamment dans les domaines de la reproduction et de la sexualité. Les SSK, en particulier, proposent une lecture complexe et riche des relations humains/techniques et de la façon dont les relations sociales et de genre (...) s’y trouvent engagées. S’interrogeant sur la coïncidence de certaines de ces approches (participant du « tournant descriptif » dans les sciences sociales) avec des transformations économiques et sociales plus vastes (la reconfiguration de soi via les biotechnologies comme promesse individuelle en contexte néolibéral), l’article propose de mettre en évidence ce qu’un renouveau de l’approche historienne pourrait apporter en propre : redonner à voir l’épaisseur des contextes scientifiques et sociaux de production de certaines technologies, dire l’historicité des enjeux sociaux et de genre, produire de nouveaux récits attentifs aux enjeux normatifs, politiques et économiques. (shrink)

Parmi les différentes conceptualisations dont le phénomène de la guerre a pu faire l'objet, l'oeuvre de Thomas Hobbes et celle de Cari von Clausewitz se sont souvent trouvées rangées, depuis le développement du champ disciplinaire des relations internationales en particulier, parmi des auteurs dits " réalistes " tels que Thucydide ou Machiavel notamment. Or leur pensée respective semble échapper à toutes les formes de catégorisation : ni pur " réalisme ", ni bellicisme, ni pensée de la " raison d'Etat ", (...) d'une part, ni idéalisme, "pacifisme ", ou pensée de la guerre juste, d'autre part, l'oeuvre de Hobbes et celle de Clausewitz occupent une place à part parmi ceux qui, semblablement à eux, ont pris la guerre pour objet de leur réflexion. Malgré les deux siècles et bien d'autres choses qui les séparent, une pensée hétérodoxe de la guerre se fait ainsi écho à travers elles. Hobbes comme Clausewitz s'efforcent en effet d'appréhender la guerre, non point en juristes, tel Hugo Grotius, ni même en spécialistes de l'art de la guerre, comme Machiavel, ou bien encore en moralistes, tel Juste Lipse, mais bel et bien en tant que théoriciens soucieux de saisir la logique présidant aux rapports conflictuels entre les êtres humains, c'est-à-dire à la fois la suite des causes et des effets conduisant à la guerre et l'ensemble des règles commandant le déroulement de cette dernière une fois enclenchée. Le tableau de la guerre qu'offrent par conséquent Hobbes et Clausewitz à leurs lecteurs, bien qu'il puisse paraître sombre ou cynique, n'est pas celui de la déraison ou d'une hybris totalement déchaînée : loin de présenter la guerre comme un phénomène inextricable, chacun s'efforce, à sa façon, de rendre intelligible le phénomène guerrier, d'en mettre à nu les principes et les ressorts à la fois passionnels et rationnels, nécessaires et contingents. (shrink)

La revendication de la capacité de la science mécaniste nouvelle à prolonger la vie, dans des proportions dont on s’est souvent complu à exhiber le caractère irrationnel, est plus complexe qu’il n’y paraît. L’étude du détail des textes de Descartes, en particulier de la correspondance, montre ainsi que ce n’est pas d’abord l’étude de la médecine, si parfaite et démonstrative soit-elle, qui peut fournir à l’homme les moyens de vivre mieux et plus longtemps. C’est, inversement, la mise au jour des (...) pouvoirs de l’âme sur ses représentations, donc sur le corps auquel elle est jointe, qu’il faut privilégier. La problématique de la conservation de la santé se résout ainsi dans une éthique de la joie entée sur une psychophysiologie radicalement singulière. (shrink)

"L'ouvrage que nous propose aujourd'hui Mme Delphine Espagno est peut-être la plus belle des invitations qui ait été écrite afin d'inciter le lecteur, citoyen et/ou juriste, à comprendre la pensée du doyen de Bordeaux. Léon Duguit méritait effectivement le présent ouvrage et hommage car le doyen, comme Jean-Jacques Rousseau avant lui, a longtemps été et est encore souvent présenté soit comme un marginal de la pensée juridique, soit est même dédaigné de façon méprisante comme si sa qualité de juriste (...) lui était déniée. Hauriou, nous rappelle l'auteure, ira même ainsi jusqu'à affubler Duguit d'être un "anarchiste de la chaire" ce qui n'avait manifestement pas totalement déplu à ce dernier! Car, ce que rappelle Mme Espagno dès son introduction, c'est bien une nouvelle manière de penser et de réinventer le Droit dans son ensemble que nous invite à accomplir Léon Duguit. Il n'est pas qu'un faiseur de théorie(s) (comme celles du service public, des agents publics ou encore de l'Etat), il est - pour reprendre l'expression de Chenot désormais consacrée - un véritable "faiseur de système dans son sens le plus noble et mélioratif. Duguit assume en effet son rôle de guide et nous a donné à voir une nouvelle façon d'appréhender le Droit non pas tel qu'il est mais tel qu'il devrait être. Un Droit qu'il a comme réinventé en chaussant de nouvelles lunettes tel le spectateur qui verrait en deux dimensions et désormais en découvrirait - grâce à lui - une troisième. Après Léon Duguit, les juristes n'ont ainsi pu feindre de ne concevoir le Droit qu'à l'instar d'un artifice fictif, technique et juridique : le Droit est devenu indissociable de la sociologie. Ce "droit duguiste" nous offre alors grâce à la lumière qu'y dépose avec délicatesse Mme Delphine Espagno la vision renouvelée des relations existantes entre Droit, individu et collégialité ou société. En outre, ce que va construire le doyen de Bordeaux n'est pas - comme on le lit encore souvent - une "simple" théorie du service public mais une théorie réaliste de l'Etat par le service public", Mathieu Touzeil-Divina. (shrink)

Promoting student’s school engagement is a major goal in our society. The literature has shown that students’ proximal sources of social support can play a fundamental role in facilitating this engagement. The purpose of this study was to compare perceived support from four sources as a function of two different middle-school student backgrounds, a priority education area and a privileged area; and to examine the contribution of these main sources of social support, either directly or indirectly to school engagement; and (...) to test whether perceived social support is more strongly related to school engagement, directly or indirectly, among students from priority education school compared to students from the advantaged area. In all, 623 middle-school students from either a privileged or priority education area participated in this study. The results showed that the mother was perceived as providing more support, followed by the father, the teachers, and the peers. Students from the priority education area perceived more support from their teachers than their counterparts from the more privileged area did. A path analysis showed that each source of social support, except for maternal support, contributed to school engagement. Peers and teachers emerged as the best source of support for school engagement, having significant direct effects among students from the priority education area and both direct and indirect effects among students from the advantaged area. Peer support also appears to have a double-edged effect on school engagement among students in the priority education area. This study contributes to enlightening the phenomenon of school engagement in adolescence by clarifying the role of social support and the related mediating process. Being perceived as an important source of social support by students is not enough to contribute to their sense of school belonging and school engagement. (shrink)

This article focuses on a project of « predictive medicine » elaborated in the late 1960s by an American dentist, Emanuel Cheraskin. In his views, this new label was meant to name a preventive medicine based on the knowledge of individual pecularities. The analysis of this unknown episode of medical history allows to uncover the prospective dimension of this medicine, and also the ambiguities which are linked to the idea that understanding individual peculiarities could help rethink the preventive approach. Through (...) the study of Cheraskin’s propositions, I want to show that the ambition of providing a new basis to prevention, namely a science of individuals, casts a light on the predictive project. While paying attention to this ambition, rather than to genomic techniques, I hope to open new paths in our understanding of various aspects of contemporary predictive medicine. (shrink)

Une affirmation récurrente parcourt les travaux récents consacrés à Georges Canguilhem : l’essor des études canguilhémiennes aurait avant tout permis de prendre conscience du caractère pleinement philosophique de cette œuvre, laquelle aurait été indûment considérée comme relevant avant tout de l’histoire des sciences ou de l’épistémologie. On s’interroge ici sur le sens de cette redécouverte. Comment la philosophie canguilhémienne aurait-elle pu être oubliée? On montrera dans cet article que cette affirmation surprenante doit être resituée dans un contexte de débats académiques, (...) en France et à l’étranger, concernant la nature de la philosophie des sciences. (shrink)

Spiritualism designates a philosophy that lays claim to the separation of mind and body and the ontological and epistemological primacy of the former. In France, it is associated with the names of Victor Cousin and René Descartes, or more precisely with what Cousin made of Descartes as the founding father of a brittle rational psychology, closed off from the positive sciences, and as a critic in respect to the empiricist legacy of the idéologues. Moreover, by considering merely the end result, (...) severed from its polemical genesis, we are prevented from understanding how the category of experience constituted a crucial question for spiritualism itself. Through returning to the origin of these discussions in the 1826 preface to Cousin’s Fragments philosophiques, this essay pursues a threefold path: to show that the public birth of Cousinian spiritualism coincides with the affirmation of applying the experimental method, issuing from Bacon, to the study of facts of consciousness; that Cousin’s later evolution follows a process of radicalization—that is, in this context, of ontologization and of reduction; and that by recovering this genesis, we can distinguish many forms of spiritualisms committed to the experimental method, both in alliance with the early Cousin and against the later Cousin. In this way, we can rediscover the interwoven philosophical links, lost in the process of institutionalization, between metaphysical demands and empiricist concerns, or between “French” philosophy and the legacy of Condillac. (shrink)

Cet article a pour objet la réinterprétation, dans le sillage de la rénovation keplérienne de l’optique, de la fonction de l’image rétinienne pour la vision par Gassendi et Descartes. Une comparaison de leurs approches montre qu’elles reposent sur une interprétation différente du modèle iconique de la perception. S’ils attribuent un rôle crucial à l’imagination pour la perception visuelle, leurs positions philosophiques font jouer un rôle différent à l’image dans la perception visuelle et les amènent à concevoir de façon divergente l’imagination (...) et son rapport aux autres pouvoirs de l’esprit. (shrink)

Cet article s’intéresse aux traces laissées par l’expérience du coma, en particulier aux conséquences de ces lésions sur les capacités du sujet à être en lien avec lui-même et avec les autres. Pour les enfants et adolescents, ce lien semble osciller du manque à l’excès, en lien avec une mise à mal de la fonction d’étayage du premier environnement. À partir de son expérience auprès d’un adolescent hospitalisé suite à une lésion cérébrale et une période de coma, et ce dans (...) le cadre d’une pratique clinique en service de rééducation, l’auteur interroge la possibilité de reprise en termes de subjectivation et historicisation de cette période inscrite en creux pour le sujet et ce qui semble se jouer dans le lien parents-enfant. L’angoisse de mort, à vif, y circule violemment en quête de mise en forme. Le miroir que peut tendre l’autre parental est convoqué. (shrink)

Pierre Gassendi was a major figure in seventeenth-century philosophy whose philosophical and scientific works contributed to shaping Western intellectual identity. Among "new philosophers", he was considered Descartes’ main rival, and he belonged to the first rank of those attempting to carve out an alternative to Aristotelian philosophy. Given the importance of Gassendi for the history of science and philosophy, it is surprising to see that he has been largely ignored in the Anglophone world. This collection of essays constitutes the first (...) book on Gassendi that comprehensively covers his biography, bibliography, and all aspects of his philosophy. The book is divided into four parts. It begins with a brief sketch of the intellectual world of seventeenth-century France, Gassendi’s early attacks on Aristotle, and a bibliographical essay on early-modern publications of Gassendi’s writings. Part II explores Gassendi’s contributions to logic, natural philosophy, and astronomy and cosmology. Part III addresses Gassendi as a humanist and participant in seventeenth-century philosophical and scientific debates, including his advocacy of Epicurean philosophy and his relation to the sceptical tradition. The fourth and final part involves a brief discussion of the reception of Gassendi’s thought, including the paraphrases of his works published in France and England. This book is an essential resource for scholars and upper-level students of early modern philosophy, intellectual history, and the history of science who want to get acquainted with Pierre Gassendi as a major philosopher and intellectual figure of the early modern period. (shrink)

Overcoming the Suspension of Assent: The Academic Roots of Gassendi’s Probabilism In this paper, I show that, beyond the role played by Pyrrhonian arguments in rebuking Aristotelian theses, Academic philosophy offered to Gassendi a probabilist model of knowledge which, contrary to the Pyrrhonian suspension of assent, opened the possibility of a natural philosophy conceived as a science of appearances. In addition to Gassendi’s erudite interest for Cicero and Charron, Academic probabilism suited Gassendi’s own practice as a natural philosopher in the (...) realms of meteorology and astronomy. But first and foremost, Gassendi’s preference for Academic philosophy rather than for Pyrrhonism was motivated, early in his philosophical career, by ethical concerns immanent to his practice of savant: the importance of preserving his libertas philosophandi for his experimental approach to nature, combined with his personal incapacity not to incline toward one opinion or another, led him to formulate his epistemological probabilism and to claim the freedom to revise his opinions from day to day. (shrink)

This volume explores the philosophy of Étienne Bonnot de Condillac. It presents, for the first time, English-language essays on Condillac's philosophy, making the complexity and sophistication of his arguments and their influence on early modern philosophy accessible to a wider readership. Condillac's reflections on the origin and nature of human abilities, such as the ability to reason, reflect and use language, took philosophy in distinctly new directions. This volume showcases the diversity of themes and methods inspired by Condillac's work. The (...) chapters are divided into four thematic sections. Part 1 highlights themes and discussions that were central to Condillac's own philosophical thinking, thus laying the ground for the subsequent discussions that trace Condillac's influence in the 19th century and beyond. Part 2 focuses on the different ways in which Condillac's philosophy has been taken up, criticised and further developed in France. Part 3 discusses thinkers working in other European countries and parts of the world who took up Condillac's work. Finally, Part 4 looks at the practical applications of Condillac's philosophy in a variety of different fields, such as economics, psychology, psychopathology and deaf studies. Condillac and His Reception will appeal to scholars and advanced students working on early modern philosophy, history of science and intellectual history. (shrink)

L’auteur, psychologue clinicienne, explore à partir d’une situation clinique le champ des violences intrafamiliales extrêmes impliquant ici un inceste à la fois paternel, maternel et fraternel. C’est au décours de la maternité que ce passé traumatique (et non dit) fut ravivé, nécessitant du sujet d’importants remaniements psychiques pour ne pas sombrer dans la dépression profonde. Le suivi clinique engagé montre les limites du processus thérapeutique, lorsque l’impensable et a fortiori l’irreprésentable provoquent une incapacité d’élaboration du trauma et son dépassement. Enfin, (...) l’auteur propose d’éclairer les enjeux déterminants de la dynamique transférentielle et contretransférentielle, pour le travail d’historicisation et d’inscription du trauma par le sujet, qui vont s’inaugurer par des modalités inédites de création subjective présageant d’un véritable processus de subjectivation. (shrink)

This paper studies Francisque Bouillier’s contribution to cousinian Spiritualism, from his first text on the History of Cartesian Philosophy from 1839 (revised version from 1842) to the publication of Du principe vital et de l’âme pensante (1864), a work which was likewise considerably amended as a result of the polemics it gave rise to. The paper is concerned with the reception of Leibniz in a double sense. In a positive sense, Bouillier managed to reintegrate in the caricature of the Cartesian (...) soul conceived by the Cousinians, a force that was criticized by the latter. In a negative sense to the extent that, for Bouillier, the direct re-appropriation of Leibniz’s dynamic ontology was impossible without completely breaking with Cousin himself. Hence, Bouillier’s reception of Leibniz took the form of a progressive suppression of a monadological tendency in favor of a rehabilitation of a theory of minute perceptions. The primacy of the interior sense that results from this allowed him to construct a Descartes who is different from Cousin’s but without completely rejecting Cousin. This Descartes is probably closer to Malebranche than to Leibniz. In order, however, to understand this movement in the history of ideas and its lasting echoes in the history of philosophy, a simply study of the reception does not suffice. One must moreover study the importance of a whole series of mediations and prisms that constitute Bouillier’s intellectual framework. Here, I have focused on three such prisms : (1) the Cartesian prism itself, which has contributed to the identification of animism as a regression into scholasticism; (2) the Cousinian, prism, which assimilate all resurgence to culpable pantheism ; (3) the prism of the first translations and uses of the polemic between the major figure of Stahl and the way they are refracted in each other. This study is a contribution to a more general reflection on the categories and «labels» that we employ when telling, and telling ourselves, the histories of philosophy. (shrink)

Recent years have seen a growing interest among psychologists for debates in moral philosophy. Moral psychologists have investigated the causal origins of the opposition between utilitarian and deontological judgments and the psychological underpinnings of people’s beliefs about the moral status of animals. One issue that remains underexplored in this research area is the relationship between people’s disposition to engage in utilitarian thinking and their attitudes towards animals. This gap is unfortunate considering the tight philosophical connection between utilitarianism and the claim (...) that animals have the same moral status as humans. Indeed, the principle of utility leads naturally enough to the view that animals count every bit as much as human beings. In this paper, we report two empirical studies dedicated to bridging this gap. In Study 1, we looked at the relationship between attitudes towards animals and utilitarian judgments in the context of sacrificial dilemmas. In Study 2, we bypassed the problems raised by the use of such dilemmas as a measure of utilitarianism by relying on other types of thought experiments. Overall, our results suggest no strong correlation between utilitarianism and attitudes towards animals. Rather, the existence of a correlation between utilitarianism and attitudes towards animals very much depends on how both are measured. (shrink)

In this introduction, we explain our choice to approach the topic of space from a cosmological perspective, that is, by studying the conceptions of space that were implicitly or explicitly entailed by ancient, medieval and early modern representations of the cosmos, and the role that imagination played in those conceptions. We compare our approach with those of Alexandre Koyré and Edward Grant, and we present the two important issues this book intends to shed light on, namely the continuity and discontinuity (...) between ancient, medieval, and early modern conceptions of space and the cosmos; and the role that metaphysical, cosmological, and theological considerations played in the elaboration of new theories of space in the course of history. This chapter also presents the main, recurring themes of this book: the relation between place and space; the notion of imaginary spaces; the role played by thought experiments in discussions concerning the nature of space and the structure of the cosmos; the impact of the condemnation of 1277 on subsequent theories of space; and the relation between God’s immensity and the infinity of space. (shrink)

The writings by the 'state philosophers' of nineteenth-century France are often seen, either as entirely driven by political or ideological concerns, or reduced to mere history of philosophy. Hence, ironically, those who established the philosophical canon that still now informs philosophy teaching in France were themselves excluded from that canon. Using the heuristic concept of a philosophical figure, this contribution intends to show how, for these philosophers, historiography represented a seemingly inoffensive, but in reality extremely efficient, means of searching out (...) philosophical alternatives to the institutionally dominant philosophy of Victor Cousin (1792-1867). Focalizing on the almost forgotten case of Joseph-Marie Degérando (1772-1842), I show how he used the philosophical figure of Descartes and how he used it to counter Cousin. (shrink)

In the philosophical literature, self-deception is mainly approached through the analysis of paradoxes. Yet, it is agreed that self-deception is motivated by protection from distress. In this paper, we argue, with the help of findings from cognitive neuroscience and psychology, that self-deception is a type of affective coping. First, we criticize the main solutions to the paradoxes of self-deception. We then present a new approach to self-deception. Self-deception, we argue, involves three appraisals of the distressing evidence: (a) appraisal of the (...) strength of evidence as uncertain, (b) low coping potential and (c) negative anticipation along the lines of Damasio’s somatic marker hypothesis. At the same time, desire impacts the treatment of flattering evidence via dopamine. Our main proposal is that self-deception involves emotional mechanisms provoking a preference for immediate reward despite possible long-term negative repercussions. In the last part, we use this emotional model to revisit the philosophical paradoxes. (shrink)

This edited volume features 20 essays written by leading scholars that provide a detailed examination of L’Homme by René Descartes. It explores the way in which this work developed themes not just on questions such as the circulation of the blood, but also on central questions of perception and our knowledge of the world. Coverage first offers a critical discussion on the different versions of L'Homme, including the Latin, French, and English translations and the 1664 editions. Next, the authors examine (...) the early reception of the work, from the connection of L'Homme to early-modern Dutch Cartesianism to Nicolas Steno's criticism of the work and how Descartes' clock analogy is used to defend two different conceptions of the articulation between anatomical observations and functional hypotheses. The book then goes on to explore L'Homme and early-modern anthropology as well as the how the work has been understood and incorporated into the works of scientists, physicians, and philosophers over the last 150 years. Overall, readers will discover how the trend over the last few decades to understand human cognition in neuro-physiological terms can be seen to be not something unprecedented, but rather a revival of a way of dealing with these fundamental questions that was pioneered by Descartes. (shrink)

Les études dites de réception se trouvent aujourd’hui dans une situation paradoxale. Au premier regard le tableau paraît souriant. Anciens ou modernes, les textes sont aujourd’hui communément abordés sous l’angle de leurs lectures immédiates (réception médiatique notamment) et, surtout, de leurs aménagements posthumes (avatars éditoriaux, propositions herméneutiques, usages sociaux). La multiplication de pareils travaux manifeste un engouement qui ne semble pas près de se démentir. Spectaculaire si l’on considère le nombre de thèses et de colloques qui entretiennent cette vague, pareil (...) essor ne suffit pourtant pas à lever tous les doutes. Loin de faire l’unanimité, les études dites de réception suscitent toujours une certaine méfiance. Ne seraient-elles pas le Cheval de Troie d’un relativisme conduisant à niveler toutes les formes de critiques et d’interprétations? Outre la crainte d’une dangereuse indifférenciation, un soupçon plus radical remet en cause leur bien-fondé : s’intéresser à l’histoire des gestes critiques et des modes de lecture, n’est-ce pas un indice d’épuisement pour des champs disciplinaires n’ayant d’autre objet que leur propre histoire? Ce dossier fait le pari inverse. Il doit son impulsion à la conviction qu’un regard patient et informé sur les actes de lecture de nos prédécesseurs éclaire, en retour, nos propres pratiques. Accuser réception : ce titre voudrait suggérer, par-delà les procès en illégitimité, la nécessité de prendre en compte la vie longue des textes pour mieux comprendre ce que nous faisons quand, après tant d’autres et parfois dans leur ombre, nous lisons les textes du passé. Rassemblant les contributions de spécialistes venus d’horizons divers comme l’histoire de la philosophie occidentale, celles de la poésie chinoise, des littératures médiévales et modernes ou encore de l’herméneutique biblique, ce dossier, qui mêle études monographiques et réflexions transversales, analyse la constitution de certains paradigmes critiques, mais également celle de territoires disciplinaires fondés sur des traditions interprétatives parfois oubliées. Il espère montrer que la question des réceptions n’est pas réductible à la somme figée des commentaires formulés sur un texte, un auteur ou une période. Posée de manière dynamique, elle donne à voir la production des héritages qui nous ont été transmis et permet ainsi d’arpenter autrement les paysages qui sont devenus les nôtres. Textes réunis par Stéphane Zékian et Thierry Roger et mis en ligne avec le soutien de l'Université de Lausanne. (shrink)

This volume provides a much needed, historically accurate narrative of the development of theories of space up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. It studies conceptions of space that were implicitly or explicitly entailed by ancient, medieval and early modern representations of the cosmos. The authors reassess Alexandre Koyré’s groundbreaking work From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe and they trace the permanence of arguments to be found throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. By adopting a long timescale, (...) this book sheds new light on the continuity between various cosmological representations and their impact on the ontology and epistemology of space. Readers may explore the work of a variety of authors including Aristotle, Epicurus, Henry of Ghent, John Duns Scotus, John Wyclif, Peter Auriol, Nicholas Bonet, Francisco Suárez, Francesco Patrizi, Giordano Bruno, Libert Froidmont, Marin Mersenne, Pierre Gassendi, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Samuel Clarke. We see how reflections on space, imagination and the cosmos were the product of a plurality of philosophical traditions that found themselves confronted with, and enriched by, various scientific and theological challenges which induced multiple conceptual adaptations and innovations. This volume is a useful resource for historians of philosophy, those with an interest in the history of science, and particularly those seeking to understand the historical background of the philosophy of space. (shrink)

Dans cet ouvrage, Carlo Borghero se place délibérément dans le camp de ceux que l’on aurait tendance à considérer comme les perdants de la bataille qui oppose cartésiens et newtoniens en France dans la première moitié du xviiie siècle. Il s’agit donc d’étudier les réactions des cartésiens à la diffusion des thèses de Newton, mais aussi de Locke. Il importe particulièrement à C. Borghero de montrer que ceux qui s’opposent à la philosophie anglaise newtoniano-lockienne le font en tant que carté..

This study shows that double thymidine block treatment efficiently arrests the EO771 cells in the S‐phase without altering cell growth or survival. A long‐term analysis of cell behavior, using 5(6)‐carboxyfluorescein diacetate N‐succinimidyl ester (CFSE) staining, show synchronization to be stable and consistent over time. The EO771 cell line is a medullary breast‐adenocarcinoma cell line isolated from a spontaneous murine mammary tumor, and can be used to generate murine tumor implantation models. Different biological (serum or amino acid deprivation), physical (elutriation, mitotic (...) shake‐off), or chemical (colchicine, nocodazole, thymidine) treatments are widely used for cell synchronization. Of the different methods tested, the double thymidine block is the most efficient for synchronization of murine EO771 cells if a large quantity of highly synchronized cells is recommended to study functional and biochemical events occurring in specific points of cell cycle progression. (shrink)

This research brings together insights from philosophy, political theory, and consumer research in conceptualizing and empirically examining the social dimension of negative and positive freedom in consumption. Drawing from ethnographic observations and interviews with Moroccan women regarding their shopping at the supermarket, the findings detail the roles of husbands, store employees, extended family members and friends as constrainer, protector, enabler, facilitator, indulger, and witness. The discussion explains a ‘domino effect’ in such innovative marketplaces, as these market and social actors together (...) enact positive and negative forms of freedom in consumption in ways that co-disrupt social traditions. Implications for business ethics emphasize the need for greater theoretical understanding and practical transparency and accountability regarding the shared, yet disparate responsibilities among businesses and consumers for the changes to social traditions that result in the joint enactment of women’s freedom in consumption. (shrink)

English summary: This book examines the philosophy of Elisabeth of Bohemia in conjunction with Descartess. She maintained a philosophical dialogue with another philosopher employing pertinent arguments. In addition, she perhaps developed her own theses, truly philosophical theses which can be better understood in consideration with her numerous correspondents. The study seeks to better understand Elisabeths role in Cartesian thought, and to determine her own philosophical thought. French description: Le titre meme de ce volume, sous forme d'interrogation, est a comprendre comme (...) un postulat. Il s'explique comme suit : il s'agit de s'interroger sur la pensee philosophique d'Elisabeth tout autant que sur celle de Descartes. La reflexion d'Elisabeth semble en effet posseder une dimension philosophique a deux titres au moins : d'abord parce que la princesse entretient un dialogue philosophique de haute tenue avec un autre philosophe, en deployant des arguments pertinents; ensuite parce qu'elle developpe peut-etre elle-meme des theses qui lui sont personnelles, qui seraient des theses au sens fort et pleinement philosophique du terme, et dont l'etude pourrait etre affinee par la prise en consideration de ses tres nombreux autres correspondants. Reste un scrupule : celui de trahir le souhait meme d'Elisabeth de cantonner ses echanges intellectuels au plan prive, en la propulsant en pleine lumiere et en lui faisant endosser une posture philosophique qu'elle a soigneusement evitee de son vivant. Qu'on songe qu'elle voulait que cet echange soit code! Mais comme le premier traitre fut Descartes lui-meme, transmettant les lettres d'Elisabeth a Christine de Suede, considerons-nous comme habilites, en bons cartesiens, a divulguer la pensee de la princesse palatine. C'est a ce prix en effet, que nous pourrons redefinir le role de cette derniere dans le cartesianisme, determiner s'il existe une pensee propre d'Elisabeth et enfin, si elle existe, savoir en quoi elle consiste. (shrink)

Au cœur de la pensée philosophique, une tension essentielle : des textes écrits dans une conjoncture donnée et incarnés dans des hommes singuliers conquièrent progressivement une forme d'intemporalité. Ils deviennent «classiques». L'objectif de ce volume collectif, réunissant une vingtaine d'études de cas, est de soumettre ces classiques à une double épreuve. D'une part, l'étude des réceptions et médiations intellectuelles montre que le travail de l'historien de la philosophie ne se résume pas à celui d'un antiquaire. D'autre part, la mise au (...) jour des mécanismes d'activations et d'actualisations intellectuelles des classiques atteste de ce que la pensée philosophique ne saurait se réduire à un inventaire d'arguments décontextualisés. Il s'agit, en somme, de proposer une approche anthropologique de la pensée philosophique. (shrink)

Drawing on Butler’s theoretical background, research on the ethics of violence has focused on the importance of dominant society-wide schemes and norms in building individuals’ moral sense of violence. Studies explain how violence is normalized and made socially acceptable. In our analysis, we build on the pragmatic sociology of Boltanski and Thévenot that places particular importance on the fact that fairness must always be appreciated in situations and provide a “grammar” to describe competing normative approaches. Studying rugby, we show how (...) the different market players (consumers, broadcasters, journalists) justify the violence that occurs during rugby matches. We contribute to the literature on the ethics of violence by providing a pragmatic understanding of violence. We contribute to the economies of worth by investigating violence in a regime of justice and justification work in a reality test (in contrast to a test of worth). This understanding of violence enables us to offer some recommendations to encourage more responsible justification work about violence. (shrink)

Intuitively, affect plays an indispensable role in self-deception’s dynamic. Call this view “affectivism.” Investigating affectivism matters, as affectivists argue that this conception favours the non-intentionalist approach to self-deception and offers a unified account of straight and twisted self-deception. However, this line of argument has not been scrutinized in detail, and there are reasons to doubt it. Does affectivism fulfill its promises of non-intentionalism and unity? We argue that it does, as long as affect’s role in self-deception lies in affective filters—that (...) is, in evaluation of information in light of one’s concerns. We develop this conception by taking into consideration the underlying mechanisms governing self-deception, particularly the neurobiological mechanisms of somatic markers and dopamine regulation. Shifting the discussion to this level can fulfill the affectivist aspirations, as this approach clearly favours non-intentionalism and offers a unified account of self-deception. We support this claim by criticizing the main alternative affectivist account—namely, the views that self-deception functions to reduce anxiety or is motivated by anxiety. Describing self-deception’s dynamic does not require intention; affect is sufficient if we use the insights of neuroscience and the psychology of affective bias to examine this issue. In this way, affectivism can fulfill its promises. (shrink)

The Malebranchian Reception of Pascal’s Anthropology. The Question of the Transmission of Original Sin. The comparison between the theoretical positions of Pascal and Malebranche on the opportunity to shed light rationally on the ways of original sin proves to be highly instructive from three perspectives. On the one hand, it enlightens us on the strategy adopted in each of these apologetic projects towards the mobilization of physiological arguments with strong materialistic undertones. In return, it injects a little dynamism into their (...) thwarted reception, especially at the time of the Enlightenment. Finally, this comparison establishes a subtle link between two authors who have been dealt with very sparsely by traditional commentaries, concerning their conception of the use of skepticism in epistemology. Thus, through the problem of the ways of sin transmission, this is not a rethinking of the relationships between reason and faith, but is, rather, a particular use of reason and of Descartes’ analyses. (shrink)

Resituating Descartes in any historical framework allows one to show how a radical philosophy was built against, but also along with, current and past doctrines. Taking seriously this intellectual struggle is worthwhile. But genetic analysis of the Cartesian corpus presents a real challenge. One pragmatic way of doing it is to begin with lexical clarification as proposed by Palkoska. His aim is to understand Descartes's conception of scientia, and to explain how cognition produces certain and evident true judgments. The main (...) contribution of the book is to carefully point out all the "inconsistencies" and even "conflicting... (shrink)

This volume explores the philosophy of Étienne Bonnot de Condillac. It presents, for the first time, English-language essays on Condillac's philosophy, making the complexity and sophistication of his arguments and their influence on early modern philosophy accessible to a wider readership. Condillac's reflections on the origin and nature of human abilities, such as the ability to reason, reflect and use language, took philosophy in distinctly new directions. This volume showcases the diversity of themes and methods inspired by Condillac's work. The (...) chapters are divided into four thematic sections. Part 1 highlights themes and discussions that were central to Condillac's own philosophical thinking, thus laying the ground for the subsequent discussions that trace Condillac's influence in the 19th century and beyond. Part 2 focuses on the different ways in which Condillac's philosophy has been taken up, criticised and further developed in France. Part 3 discusses thinkers working in other European countries and parts of the world who took up Condillac's work. Finally, Part 4 looks at the practical applications of Condillac's philosophy in a variety of different fields, such as economics, psychology, psychopathology and deaf studies. Condillac and His Reception will appeal to scholars and advanced students working on early modern philosophy, history of science and intellectual history. (shrink)

The term “coenesthesia” was introduced at the end of the eighteenth century by the German physiologist Johann Christian Reil to designate the general perception of the living body through the nerves. Over the course of the nineteenth century, this notion circulated widely not only in Germany, but also in France, where it was developed in particular by Théodule Ribot. However, a good sixty years before Ribot, Maine de Biran had already employed the notion of “coenesthesia” to indicate the “immediate feeling (...) of existence,” which he distinguished from the apperception of the self in relation to the body. What Biran emphasized, in his philosophical appropriation of “coenesthesia,” is the impersonal and mostly unconscious nature of this feeling, which never leaves us and plays a key role in the shaping of our personal and conscious life, unnoticeably influencing the course of our ideas, our character, and the emotional tone of our perception of the world. The purpose of this article is to study Biran’s philosophical use of the notion of “coenesthesia” in the last phase of his philosophical reflection (1823–1824) in relation to the emergence of the problem of the unconscious. (shrink)

The purpose of this text is to tell the story of the implementation of the _Act Respecting End-of-Life Care,_ referred to hereafter as _Law 2_ (Gouvernement du Québec, 2014) with an emphasis on the ambiguous role of ethics in the Interdisciplinary Support Groups (ISGs), created by Quebec's _Ministère de la santé et des services sociaux_ (MSSS). As established, ISGs provide “clinical, administrative and ethical support to health care professionals responding to a request for Medical aid in dying (MAiD)” (Gouvernement du (...) Québec, 2015). It is suggested that their composition includes the participation of a person with an expertise in ethics. These ISGs represent an important innovation for stakeholders involved in MAiD. To date, no scientific research has specifically addressed ISGs and little research has been conducted in other jurisdictions on the roles, operations and practices of MAiD support structures, especially the implication of ethics. Several ISGs have certainly developed promising practices that could benefit all stakeholders in the wider field of ethics and end of life. We will explore the development of ISGs in Quebec as a support structure for MAiD by highlighting the role that ethics has played (and should play) in these morally and humanly challenging situations. (shrink)

The rising prominence of consumer sovereignty, wherein businesses prioritize customers as kings, presents complex ethical dilemmas. This paper delves into the ethical implications of consumer sovereignty by examining the lack of recognition to which service workers are subjected in their interactions with customers. Applying the sensitizing lens of recognition theory, we investigate how the relational domination inherent in the service industry ultimately results in four main recognition gaps: visibility, status recognition, affective recognition, and capacity recognition gaps. These gaps considerably hinder (...) an employee’s ability to experience workplace dignity. Our findings enrich the business ethics literature by providing a more holistic analysis of the ethical challenges raised by consumer sovereignty. We introduce recognition theory as a framework to address these concerns and offer recommendations for managers to better support their service employees in overcoming the absence of customer recognition. (shrink)

Translation into French of Rudolf Carnap's Testability and Meaning (1936-1937): Carnap, Rudolf. "Testability and meaning." Philosophy of science 3.4 (1936): 419-471 and Carnap, Rudolf. "Testability and meaning—continued." Philosophy of science 4.1 (1937): 1-40. Introduction by Pierre Wagner; translation by Yann Benétreau-Dupin and Delphine Chapuis-Schmitz. Testabilité et signification est un classique de la philosophie des sciences dont aucune traduction n’avait jusqu’alors été offerte au public francophone. L’auteur y expose sa célèbre analyse des termes dispositionnels (« soluble dans l’eau », « (...) fragile », etc.) en montrant quelles difficultés soulève leur définition. Carnap livre également ici ses réflexions sur la nature de l’empirisme et sur le rapport du langage à la philosophie, offrant ainsi, dans ce texte, l’une des premières expositions du problème contemporain de la confirmation, soigneusement distinguée de la vérification et du test. Historiquement, l’ouvrage est aussi marqué par un mouvement de transition : celle de la langue allemande à l’anglais d’adoption (il s’agit du premier texte d’envergure que Carnap rédige en anglais), celle de l’émigration de son auteur, de Prague à Chicago, celle d’une pensée d’origine européenne venue, sur le chemin de l’exil, à la rencontre de la philosophie américaine. (shrink)

Background The first COVID-19 wave started in February 2020 in France. The influx of patients requiring emergency care and high-level technicity led healthcare professionals to fear saturation of available care. In that context, the multidisciplinary Ethics- Support Cell (EST) was created to help medical teams consider the decisions that could potentially be sources of ethical dilemmas. Objectives The primary objective was to prospectively collect information on requests for EST assistance from 23 March to 9 May 2020. The secondary aim was (...) to describe the Cell’s functions during that period. Research design This observational, real-time study of requests for Cell consultations concerned ethical dilemmas arising during a public health crisis. The EST created a grid to collect relevant information (clinical, patient’s/designated representative’s preferences and ethical principles strained by the situation), thereby assuring that each EST asked the same questions, in the same order. Participants and research context Only our university hospital’s clinicians could request EST intervention. Ethical considerations The hospital Research Ethics Committee approved this study (no. CER-2020-107). The patient, his/her family, or designated representative was informed of this ethics consultation and most met with EST members, which enabled them to express their preferences and/or opposition. Findings/results 33 requests (patients’ mean age: 80.8 years; 29 had COVID-19: 24 with dyspnea, 30 with comorbidities). 17 Emergency Department solicitations concerned ICU admission, without reference to resource constraints; others addressed therapeutic proportionality dilemmas. Discussion Intervention-request motives concerned limited resources and treatment intensity. Management revolved around three axes: the treatment option most appropriate for the patient, the feasibility of implementation, and dignified care for the patient. Conclusions COVID-19 crisis forced hospitals to envisage prioritization of ICU access. Established decision-making criteria and protocols do not enable healthcare professionals to escape ethical dilemmas. That acknowledgement highlights ethical risks, enhances the added-value of nursing and encourages all players to be vigilant to pursue collective deliberations to achieve clear and transparent decisions. (shrink)