Françoise Dastur describes her efforts to practice history of philosophy in a non-historical fashion. She discusses her concept of the historical, and argues that the only true way to be of one's time is to be against one's time.

Françoise Dastur describes her efforts to practice history of philosophy in a non-historical fashion. She discusses her concept of the historical, and argues that the only true way to be of one's time is to be against one's time.

With the advent of CRISPR gene-editing technology, designer babies have become a reality. Françoise Baylis insists that scientists alone cannot decide the terms of this new era in human evolution. Members of the public, with diverse interests and perspectives, must have a role in determining our future as a species.

oise Baylis, 1234 Le Marchant Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3P7. Tel.: (902)-494–2873; Fax: (902)-494-2924; Email: francoise.baylis{at}dal.ca ' + u + '@' + d + ' '//--> . Abstract Recently, there has been a growing interest in public health and public health ethics. Much of this interest has been tied to efforts to draw up national and international plans to deal with a global pandemic. It is common for these plans to state the importance of drawing upon a well-developed (...) ethics framework and we argue that this framework should reflect the values and insights of feminist relational theory. More specifically, we argue that pandemic planning must be squarely situated in the larger realm of public health and that an ethics framework for public health will be one that recognizes the need to pay particular attention to the vulnerability of subpopulations lacking in social and economic power. We propose an ethics framework for public health that builds on the notions of relational personhood (including relational autonomy and social justice) and relational solidarity. In this way, we aim for a public health ethics that, as appropriate, promotes the public interest and the common good. CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? (shrink)

Suddenly, COVID-19 has changed the world and the way people work. Companies had to accelerate something they knew was imminent in the future, but not immediate and extremely humongous. This situation poses a huge challenge for companies to survive and thrive in this complex business environment and for employees, who must adapt to this new way of working. An effective e-leadership, which promotes companies’ adaptability, is needed. This study investigates the existing knowledge on teleworking and e-leadership; and analyzes the supposed (...) challenges. The literature review shows that companies with effective e-leadership can view teleworking as an opportunity. It is advantageous for not only companies’ productivity but also the environment and people who work remotely. However, a traditional or no leadership can result in some risks. Thriving in remote work environments implies that managers must adjust the companies’ structure, making them less hierarchical, and developing new abilities to establish a strong and trustworthy relationship with their employees to maintain their competitiveness, while retaining a genuine concern for their employees’ well-being. Similarly, successful e-leadership must be able to consolidate and lead effective virtual teams to accomplish organizational goals. This study contributes to the literature and leaders during the pandemic. (shrink)

A totally ordered group G is essentially periodic if for every definable non-trivial convex subgroup H of G every definable subset of G is equal to a finite union of cosets of subgroups of G on some interval containing an end segment of H; it is coset-minimal if all definable subsets are equal to a finite union of cosets, intersected with intervals. We study definable sets and functions in such groups, and relate them to the quasi-o-minimal groups introduced in Belegradek (...) et al. . Main results: An essentially periodic group G is abelian; if G is discrete, then definable functions in one variable are ultimately piecewise linear. A group such that every model elementarily equivalent to it is coset-minimal is quasi-o-minimal , and its definable functions in one variable are piecewise linear. (shrink)

Il pense, donc il est : sérieux, solitaire, méditatif et de noir vêtu, Descartes est depuis des siècles l'incarnation de la raison triomphante et du génie français. Tant de limpidité et d'éclat a éclipsé l'homme même, qui demeure très méconnu : fils d'un temps d'incertitude? père de la philosophie moderne? Qui était vraiment René Descartes et qu'en reste-t-il aujourd'hui, au-delà des idées reçues et de la référence obligée? Mettant en lumière les contradictions du philosophe, Françoise Hildesheimer brosse le portrait (...) d'un homme fort éloigné du mythe officiel. On le veut rationnel, on ne l'imagine pas rêvant ; c'est pourtant sur trois songes que Descartes a fondé son projet d'une science universelle qui devait faire de lui le nouvel Aristote. Il a côtoyé de très près les courants déviants de l'époque, avant de s'établir en Hollande en 1628 pour concevoir son système, dévoilé au fil du Discours de la méthode, des Méditations métaphysiques, des Principes de la philosophie et des Passions de l'âme. Sa vie durant, Descartes a balancé entre désir de reconnaissance officielle et soif d'incognito ; il invitait le monde entier à débattre de ses théories, mais n'aimait guère la contestation ; il affectionnait le repos, et n'a cessé de voyager, sans jamais s'établir durablement ; lui qui se tenait éloigné du pouvoir a fini ses jours, en 1650, à la cour de la reine Christine de Suède. Curieux paradoxe que cet obsédé du secret, ce maniaque du brouillage des pistes, se soit consacré corps et âme à la quête de la Vérité et à l'étude de la lumière... (shrink)

How, asks Françoise Dastur, can philosophy account for the sudden happening and the factuality of the event? Dastur asks how phenomenology, in particular the work of Heidegger, Husserl, and Merleau-Ponty, may be interpreted as offering such an account. She argues that the “paradoxical capacity of expecting surprise is always in question in phenomenology,” and for this reason, she concludes, “We should not oppose phenomenology and the thinking of the event. We should connect them; openness to phenomena must be identified (...) with openness to unpredictability.” The article offers reflections in these terms on a phenomenology of birth. (shrink)

La lutte contre la Covid a donné à l’Europe un premier élan fédéral. Le second est provoqué par le bruit des bottes russes en Ukraine. L’Union réagit par des sanctions sans précédent contre la Russie, en particulier en diminuant drastiquement ses approvisionnements en gaz. L’Allemagne en est la première perdante. La combinaison d’intérêts économiques divergents et la tradition allemande de l’Ostpolitik approfondissent les divergences entre la France et l’Allemagne. La France affirme la souveraineté stratégique européenne ; l’Allemagne considère l’alliance avec (...) les États-Unis incontournable. Elle décide de porter le projet de « bouclier antimissile européen » avec la plupart des pays de l’Est, au moyen de technologies américaines et israéliennes, ce qui crispe la France. La question de l’envoi possible de troupes en Ukraine achève de détériorer le tandem franco-allemand. L’Europe est entrée dans une nouvelle ère : son centre de gravité se déplace vers l’est. L’élargissement qui se profile appelle à un saut fédéral. (shrink)

In September 2007, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in the United Kingdom concluded that "there is no fundamental reason to prevent cytoplasmic hybrid research . . . this area of research can, with caution and careful scrutiny, be permitted." Later, in January 2008, HFEA issued two research licenses to create humanesque cytoplasmic hybrid embryos from which stem cells could be derived. This article critically examines the public consultation process that preceded these decisions, concluding that the process was flawed (...) and demonstrating how the HFEA documents summarizing the findings of the public consultation process misrepresent the public's contributions to this policymaking initiative. (shrink)

Now that stem cell scientists are clamouring for human eggs for cloning-based stem cell research, there is vigorous debate about the ethics of paying women for their eggs. Generally speaking, some claim that women should be paid a fair wage for their reproductive labour or tissues, while others argue against the further commodification of reproductive labour or tissues and worry about voluntariness among potential egg providers. Siding mainly with those who believe that women should be financially compensated for providing eggs (...) for research, the new stem cell guidelines of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) legitimise both reimbursement of direct expenses and financial compensation for many women who supply eggs for research. In this paper, the authors do not attempt to resolve the thorny issue of whether payment for eggs used in human embryonic stem cell research is ethically legitimate. Rather, they want to show specifically that the ISSCR recommended payment practices are deeply flawed and, more generally, that all payment schemes that aim to avoid undue inducement of women risk the global exploitation of economically disadvantaged women. (shrink)

Le jeune Heidegger, dont la lecture principale demeura pendant de longues années les Recherches logiques de Husserl, a consacré ses premiers travaux aux problèmes logiques. Sa Dissertation de 1914 analyse les théories du jugement de cinq logiciens contemporains, Wundt, Maier, Brentano, Marty et Lipps qui ont en commun de demeurer à l'intérieur du psychologisme, c'est-à-dire de considérer le jugement comme un acte psychique au lieu de le situer, comme le fait Husserl, dans la sphère logique du sens. C'est sur cette (...) notion de sens que le jeune Heidegger fait porter ses questions et c'est l'analyse de sa structure relationnelle qui lui permet, en s'appuyant sur la théorie de la validité de Lotze et à la suite de Lask et de sa Théorie du jugement de 1912, d'éclairer décisivement la nature proprement logique du jugement. The young Heidegger, whose main reading remained during many years Husserl's Logical Investigations, dedicated his first works to logical problems. His Dissertation analyses the theories of judgement of five contemporary logicians, Wundt, Maier, Brentano, Marty, and Lipps, who share the same psychologist attitude, which means that they consider judgment as a psychological act instead of situating it in the logical sphere of sense, as does Husserl. The young Heidegger concentrates his questions on this notion of sense and through the analysis of its relational structure, with the help of Lotze's theory of validity and in following the indications given by Lask in his book of 1912 on The Theory of Judgment, he undertakes a decisive elucidation of the properly logical nature of judgment. (shrink)

Various causes are responsible for the important absenteeism which prevails in the public sessions and committees of the legislative assemblies: the various activities to be accomplished by Representatives andSenators outside Parliament are more and more numerous and time-consuming.However, they cannot afford to neglect these since they favour the contacts indispensable for re-election. Additionally, absenteeism can be explained by the M.P.s' lack of interest for debates which they consider insignificant, either because these are too specialized, or because they concern matters largely (...) aired by the media before being submitted to Parliament, or because they cover political choices already made.Within the parliamentary institution there are means to reduce this absenteeism. It would be appropriate to reduce drastically the number of public sessions of the Assemblies and to multiply the written proceedings. It is important to make use of the existing procedures such as permanent sections, as these are better adapted than the large assemblies to the requirements of contemporary parliamentarism. Finally, it is necessary that group leaders and commission presidents should be more vigilant to absenteeism in the commissions, because it impedes correct and functional parliamentary work and can in no manner be justified. (shrink)

Appuyé sur un document, cet article esquisse l’histoire d’une organisation mal connue et éphémère : « le Bureau de liaison issu de la rencontre internationale des femmes 1960 », rencontre dont l’initiative revient à la Fédération démocratique internationale des femmes. Il explicite également le rôle qu’y a joué la militante française Marguerite Thibert, animé de l’espoir de dépasser la guerre froide. Mais la neutralité et l’équilibre politiques souhaités pour parler au nom de toutes les femmes se heurtent aux tensions internationales (...) qui alimentent, d’un côté, l’anticommunisme et, de l’autre, des stratégies d’instrumentalisation des solidarités. (shrink)

La question que Martin Heidegger a posée à l'ensemble de la tradition occidentale est celle du sens de son concept fondamental, celui de l'être. En révélant que c'est à partir du temps que nous comprenons l'être, il a montré que la philosophie trouve son origine dans l'existence d'un être qui ne peut plus être compris, comme le veut la philosophie moderne depuis Descartes, comme un sujet centré sur lui-même. La question du temps n'est donc pas pour lui une question philosophique (...) parmi d'autres, mais celle qui seule peut donner accès à ce qui constitue l'humanité comme telle. Ce que Martin Heidegger accomplit en posant la question du rapport de l'être et du temps, c'est cette " révolution du mode de penser " que requiert la prise en vue de l'essentielle finitude de l'homme et de l'être. La mise en évidence de l'historialité foncière de la pensée philosophique implique que celle-ci ne puisse plus se définir comme une pure théorie et qu'elle exige un engagement existentiel qui ne la met pas à l'abri de l'erreur. C'est uniquement à partir d'une telle conception de la pensée que l'on peut comprendre l'engagement politique de Martin Heidegger, ce qui ne signifie nullement l'excuser. SOMMAIRE : - PRESENTATION- LA TEMPORALITE DE L'ETRE EN TANT QUE QUESTION FONDAMENTALE- LA TEMPORALITE DU "DASEIN" ET LA FINITIUDE DU TEMPS- L'INACHEVEMENT DE "ETRE ET TEMPS" ET LA PENSEE DE L'"EREIGNIS"- REMARQUES SUR LA TRADUCTIONS DE CERTAINS TERMES. (shrink)

Most philosophers adopt an etiological conception of functions, but not one that uniformly explains the functions attributed to material entities irrespective of whether they are natural or man-made. Here, I investigate the widespread idea that a combination of the two current etiological theories, SEL and INT, can offer a satisfactory account of the proper functions of both organisms and artifacts.. Making explicit what a realist theory of function supposes, I first show that SEL offers a realist theory of biological functions (...) in which these are objective properties of a peculiar sort. I argue next that an artifact function demonstrates the same objective nature as a biological function when it is accounted for by SEL, but not when it is accounted for by INT. I explain why a dual theory of artifact functions admitting both INT and SEL functions is to be dismissed. I establish that neither INT nor SEL alone can account for all artifact functions. Drawing the conclusion that we need a new etiological theory of function, I show how one can overcome the apparent inevitability of INT for some artifact functions. Finally, I outline a new etiological theory of functions that applies equally to biological entities and to artifacts. (shrink)

In this book, Françoise Mirguet traces the appropriation and reinterpretation of pity by Greek-speaking Jewish communities of Late Antiquity. Pity and compassion, in this corpus, comprised a hybrid of Hebrew, Greek, and Roman constructions; depending on the texts, they were a spontaneous feeling, a practice, a virtue, or a precept of the Mosaic law. The requirement to feel for those who suffer sustained the identity of the Jewish minority, both creating continuity with its traditions and emulating dominant discourses. Mirguet's (...) book will be of interest to scholars of early Judaism and Christianity for its sensitivity to the role of feelings and imagination in the shaping of identity. An important contribution to the history of emotions, it explores the role of the emotional imagination within the context of Roman imperialism. It also contributes to understanding how compassion has come to be so highly valued in Western cultures. (shrink)

This work was supported, in part, by a Stem Cell Network grant to Françoise Baylis and Jason Scott Robert and a CIHR grant to Françoise Baylis. We sincerely thank Alan Fine, Rich Campbell, Cynthia Cohen, and Tim Krahn for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Thanks are also owed to Tim Krahn for his research assistance. An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Department of Bioethics and the Novel Tech Ethics research team. (...) We thank the participants at each of these meetings for their helpful comments. (shrink)

The primary objective of The Health Care Ethics Con sultant is to focus attention on an immediate practical problem: the role and responsibilities, the education and training, and the certification and accreditation of health care ethics consultants. The principal questions addressed in this book include: Who should be considered health care ethics consultants? Whom should they advise? What should be their responsi bilities and what kind of training should they have? Should there be some kind of accreditation or certification program (...) to ensure that those who call themselves ethics consultants are in fact qualified to advise, consult, research, and write in health care ethics? The distinguished authors ofthese articles are persons with diverse backgrounds, interests, presumptions, and val ues. Not surprisingly, therefore, diverse responses have emerged to the questions posed. Though the book's chapters are individually authored, they are informed by the group discussions that went on during active workshop sessions, and by knowledge of the contributions of others. All of the chapters meaningfully represent their consensus. This is not to say that there were no disagreements regarding specific details, but rather that there were no fundamental objections on the book's basic content among a panel of authors who share basic premises regarding the role, responsibilities, education, and certifica tion of health care ethics consultants. (shrink)

À la fin du XIXe siècle, la psychologie se trouve confrontée à un intérêt croissant, des savants comme du grand public, pour la question de la survivance de l’esprit. Pendant quelques années, les psychologues vont collaborer avec ceux, spiritualistes et spirites, qui affirment le pouvoir de l’esprit sur la matière. Convaincus qu’elles devraient permettre de résoudre cette question alors incontestablement scientifique, ils s’adonnent à quelques expériences (tables tournantes, production d’ectoplasmes, télépathie) qui vont finalement apporter plus de scandale que de progrès (...) positif. Pour sauvegarder la scientificité positiviste de leur discipline, ils vont, en quelques années et à l’occasion principalement des congrès internationaux, instaurer une frontière officielle entre la psychologie et le spiritisme, quitte à ce que certains d’entre eux s’autorisent à la franchir clandestinement. (shrink)

Given a model-complete theory of topological fields, we considered its generic differential expansions and under a certain hypothesis of largeness, we axiomatised the class of existentially closed ones. Here we show that a density result for definable types over definably closed subsets in such differential topological fields. Then we show two transfer results, one on the VC-density and the other one, on the combinatorial property NTP2.

The theory of immediate pairs of Henselian valued fields, with a given residual theory (of characteristic zero) and a given theory of valuation group (nonzero), is undecidable and has 2ℵ0 completions.

In this note we argue that the theoretical approach, developed in the field of quasicrystals, may prove to be useful in a completely different area, namely biology, and more precisely for the transmission electron microscopy observation of biological structures this sections. Whenever the real three-dimensional structure is periodic, a generic cut will produce a quasiperiodic pattern. This is illustrated in a theoretical example inspired by the 3D organization of annelid cuticle. In addition, we discuss recent results on dislocations in quasicrystals, (...) and their possible consequence about observation in biology. Finally, this analysis could be extended to images obtained from other technics, like freeze-fracture, and other materials, provided that certain length scale relations be satisfied. (shrink)

Le centenaire de la Grande Guerre a donné un nouvel élan à la publication d’archives de soi sur l’événement, notamment de correspondances souvent découvertes dans les greniers familiaux par la génération des petits-enfants. Spécialiste d’histoire ouvrière et de l’histoire sociale de la guerre, Rémy Cazals n’a pas de lien de parenté avec Marie-Louise et Jules Puech mais il les connait bien, pour avoir écrit sur l’un des grands amis de Jules, le Mazamétain Albert Vidal et pour avoir sauvé les a...

Depuis plusieurs années, Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau souligne que l’historiographie de la Grande Guerre a eu longtemps tendance à écrire une histoire « aseptisée » du conflit, une histoire qui occulte la violence physique – donnée et reçue – et la souffrance des corps, qui tait totalement la question de la sexualité, qui oublie le malheur des âmes et les dégâts psychiques causés aux individus. Des seuils de brutalité ont pourtant été franchis en 1914-1918, tant dans les formes du combat que dans...

We outline a number of ethical objections to genetic technologies aimed at enhancing human capacities and traits. We then argue that, despite the persuasiveness of some of these objections, they are insufficient to stop the development and use of genetic enhancement technologies. We contend that the inevitability of the technologies results from a particular guiding worldview of humans as masters of the human evolutionary future, and conclude that recognising this worldview points to new directions for ethical thinking about genetic enhancement (...) technologies. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to analyze if two emergent models of leadership, servant and spiritual are really different or, on the contrary, are similar, with different labels. Both approaches were analyzed from their backgrounds, depictions, definitions, theoretical models proposed and limitations. It is concluded that both models of leadership are about the same models that share a similar root; both of them are oriented towards transcendental values of employees as a core component of leadership and a main factor (...) related to the quality of job performance. Further studies should be done in order to provide new empirical evidence to support whether servant and spiritual leadership can be considered as completely independent models. (shrink)

In this article, I argue that there is no compelling therapeutic ‘need’ for human nuclear genome transfer to prevent mitochondrial diseases caused by mtDNA mutations. At most there is a strong interest in this technology on the part of some women and couples at risk of having children with mitochondrial disease, and perhaps also a ‘want’ on the part of some researchers who see the technology as a useful precedent – one that provides them with ‘a quiet way station’ in (...) which to refine the micromanipulations techniques essential for other human germline interventions and human cloning. In advance of this argument, I review basic information about mitochondrial disease and novel genetic strategies to prevent the transmission of mutated mitochondria. Next, I address common features of contemporary debates and discussions about so-called mitochondrial replacement. First, I contest the cliché that science-and-technology is fast outpacing ethics. Second, I dispute the accuracy of the term ‘mitochondrial replacement’. Third, I provide a sustained critique of the purported ‘need’ for genetically-related children. In closing, I call into question the mainly liberal defense of human nuclear genome transfer. I suggest an alternative frame of reference that pays particular attention to issues of social justice. I conclude that our limited resources should be carefully expended in pursuit of the common good, which does not include pandering to acquired desires. (shrink)

The Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation, recently issued by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), include a number of substantive revisions. Significant changes include: (1) the bifurcation of ‘Category 3 Prohibited research activities’ in the 2016 Guidelines into ‘Category 3A Research activities currently not permitted’ and ‘Category 3B Prohibited research activities’ in the 2021 guidelines and (2) the move of heritable human genome editing research out of the ‘prohibited’ category and into the ‘currently not permitted’ (...) category. These changes are noteworthy because of the absence of a clear demarcation line between the two categories insofar as, by definition, that which is ‘prohibited’ is ‘currently not permitted’, and vice versa. Permanence is not part of the definition of ‘prohibition’. In principle, a prohibition can be rescinded at any time. This begs the question ‘Why make a policy change that has no apparent practical effect?’ One hypothesis is that the recategorisation of specific ‘prohibited’ research activities as ‘currently not permitted’ is meant to seed intuitions about which prohibited research activities should ‘soon’ be permitted subject to specialised scientific and ethics review and approval. (shrink)

Françoise Lauwaert Dans cet article, après un essai de définition de ce que l’on entendait par « rites » dans les premiers traités normatifs qui leur furent consacrés, sera retracée l’évolution ayant mené à la constitution d’un « système rituel » à visée totalisante. Or, la recherche de « l’ordre parfait » à laquelle s’adonnaient les ritualistes a suscité des débats infinis et n’a pu aboutir à construire un édifice aussi solide que ces derniers l’auraient souhaité. Pour l’anthropologue Philippe (...) Descola, ce mélange de fascination pour un système quasi totalitaire et d’incapacité à se mettre d’accord sur sa physionomie réelle caractérise l’ontologie analogiste qui fut celle de la Chine à l’époque où ces traités ont été rédigés (la fin de la période des Royaumes Combattants). C’est la première cause, d’ordre logique, que l’on peut trouver à la fragilité d’un système décrit par Yuri Pines comme « the Universal Panacea ». La deuxième cause est plutôt d’ordre psychologique. Elle trouve sa source dans le doute et l’anxiété provoqués par la pression qu’exerce sur les sujets l’injonction de recréer en soi un ordre idéal et toujours déjà perdu. Cette dernière partie s’appuie sur les travaux récents de deux auteurs, Mark Csikzentmihalyi et Michael David Kaulana Ing, lesquels montrent, à partir d’une analyse détaillée de deux ouvrages normatifs : le Wuxing 五行 (Les Cinq types d’actions vertueuses) et le Liji 禮記 (Livre des rites), comment furent abordées les questions de la faillite du rituel et de la faillibilité humaine, indiquant ainsi la voie vers une sortie possible du fantasme de l’ordre parfait. (shrink)