Although the idea of freedom has been well studied as an ideal in political philosophy, relatively little scholarship has focused on the human experience of freedom. Drawing on ethnographic research between 2012 and 2013, I examine how freedom was achieved by people who practice freeganism and freecycling in Hong Kong. I show that the freedom that these people pursue, either individually or collectively, is not a freedom without constraints but a freedom that must be attained through the exercise of deliberation, (...) restraint, and self-discipline. While freegans seek liberation by withdrawing from the world and practicing self-cultivation (chushi asceticism), freecyclers do so by engaging with worldly affairs in order to create social changes (rushi asceticism). In both cases, by reimagining freedom as ethical practices rather than a right that comes naturally with birth, freegans and freecyclers in Hong Kong are able to experience moments of freedom despite inevitable structural constraints. (shrink)

Examining Metaphors in Biopolitical Discourse This essay argues that common metaphors and metaphoric phrases used in biopolitical discourse limit how meanings are constructed by framing messages narrowly: so much so, that alternate readings are delimited, resulting in less opportunity for cognitive scrutiny of such messages. We moor our discussion of metaphors in cognitive linguistics, building on three decades of research by scholars including Sam Glucksberg, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, and Ray Gibbs, Jr., demonstrating how research in framing effects bolsters (...) our claims of limited entailments resulting from message construction. By situating our discussion of framing in biopolitics we make a case that metaphors including Frankenfood, designer baby, vegetative state and death tax address how life and death are "managed" in discourse. In this essay we demonstrate ways in which the framing of some metaphors in social discourse slip under readers' and viewers' cognitive radars, and thus become "under-the-radar metaphors.". (shrink)

Learners exposed to an artificial language recognize its abstract structural regularities when instantiated in a novel vocabulary (e.g., Gómez, Gerken, & Schvaneveldt, 2000; Tunney & Altmann, 2001). We asked whether such sensitivity accelerates subsequent learning, and enables acquisition of more complex structure. In Experiment 1, pre-exposure to a category-induction language of the form aX bY sped subsequent learning when the language is instantiated in a different vocabulary. In Experiment 2, while naíve learners did not acquire an acX bcY language, in (...) which aX and bY co-occurrence regularities were separated by a c-element, prior experience with an aX bY language provided some benefit. In Experiment 3 we replicated this finding with a 24-hour delay between learning phases, and controlled for prior experience with the aX bY language's prosodic and phonological characteristics. These findings suggest that learners, and the structure they can acquire, change as a function of experience. (shrink)

Comme un arbre refleurit, tout renouveau intellectuel ou spirituel puise sa sève dans les racines de son passé. C'est ce dont témoigne cet essai publié en 1957, à la veille du concile Vatican II. Philon est, en effet, un juif imprégné de philosophie grecque, bon représentant du milieu culturel si riche de la ville d'Alexandrie, au tournant de notre ère. Contemporain du Christ sans l'avoir connu, il appartient à un judaïsme très ouvert qui a déjà traduit la Bible en grec (...) deux siècles auparavant. Il a profondément influencé la littérature chrétienne des premiers siècles et reste un exemple et un espoir de rencontre entre ces deux cultures et ces deux religions. Nul plus que Jean Daniélou, lui-même si cultivé et si ouvert, ne pouvait mieux faire revivre cette personnalité attachante et exceptionnelle. (shrink)

This paper examines a social contractarian model in which an actor cooperates by mimicry; that is, cooperates just in case there is majority cooperation in his orher vicinity. A computer simulation is developed to study the relation between initial and final proportions of such cooperators, as wel l as to chart the population dynamics themselves. The model turns out to be non-linear; item bodies a quintessentially chaotic threshold. The simulation also yields other unforeseen results, revealing a "geometry of delection" that (...) unites delecting cells into robust molecular formations which persist with in overall cooperative domains, or which under certain conditions undermine cooperativeness entirely. The model thus sheds so me light on the structura l dimension of mimicry that underlies social communication, conflict and its resolution. (shrink)

The issue of wages has been ignored in previous studies of economic history in late imperial China. Focusing on Huating County and Lou County, this article explores the wages in agricultural, industrial, commercial, and service occupations of this area in the 1820s. The findings, though primary, are helpful to our understanding of incomes in early-nineteenth-century China.

Ce texte s’inscrit dans le prolongement d’un effort endurci pour penser les modalités complexes du dialogue entre la psychanalyse lacanienne et la phénoménologie française dans la seconde moitié du xx e siècle. Plus exactement, il s’agit ici d’indiquer les raisons objectives, à la fois théoriques et pratiques, qui expliquent la violence de la réception française du De l’interprétation de Paul Ricœur, en mettant en perspective les positions respectives du philosophe et celles du psychanalyste Jacques Lacan lors du colloque de Bonneval (...) sur l’Inconscient d’octobre 1960. L’analyse détaillée du texte “Le conscient et l’inconscient” – élément du corpus ricœurien trop souvent négligé – au regard de l’enseignement lacanien du tournant des années 1960 doit en outre permettre de dégager deux théories de l’interprétation antagonistes, afin d’indiquer pour finir les points concrets de divergence entre les orientations “ricœurienne” et “lacanienne” de la clinique psychanalytique. (shrink)

Van den Dries, L. and J. Holly, Quantifier elimination for modules with scalar variables, Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 57 161–179. We consider modules as two-sorted structures with scalar variables ranging over the ring. We show that each formula in which all scalar variables are free is equivalent to a formula of a very simple form, uniformly and effectively for all torsion-free modules over gcd domains . For the case of Presburger arithmetic with scalar variables the result takes a (...) still simpler form, and we derive in this way the polynomial-time decidability of the sets defined by such formulas. (shrink)

La transition vers la vie adulte est une période très importante dans le développement humain puisqu’elle définit pour beaucoup de jeunes leurs futures conditions de vie. Toutefois, l’effet du handicap sur cette transition reste mal connu et la plupart des études existantes sont propres au contexte des pays à ressources élevées. En exploitant les données de l’étude HandiVIH (ANRS12302), nous examinons comment le handicap modifie les marqueurs du passage à l’âge adulte dans un contexte urbain africain, et comment ces résultats (...) varient selon la sévérité et le type de limitation fonctionnelle ainsi que le sexe. Nos résultats montrent que globalement le handicap modifie significativement le passage à l’âge adulte avec pour conséquence une situation souvent plus précaire pour les personnes handicapées. Ils montrent également que ces effets sont loin d’être homogènes et qu’il existe d’importantes variations selon le sexe et les caractéristiques du handicap. La mise en œuvre de programmes de transition à l’âge adulte sensibles au genre et aux différents types de handicap est donc nécessaire pour permettre une égalité des chances tel que c’est envisagé dans les objectifs de développement durable. (shrink)

Cet article constitue la présentation des recherches effectuées par une équipe franco-grecque sur le tell de Kirrha en Phocide entre 2008 et 2015, et représente la publication préliminaire des structures archéologiques mises au jour. Deux secteurs distants l’un de l’autre ont été fouillés, révélant une dense occupation de l’Helladique Moyen, ainsi que des niveaux s’étageant jusqu’à l’Helladique Récent III. Notamment, une nécropole de la période transitionnelle (Helladique Moyen III – Helladique Récent I/II) a été fouillée dans la partie occidentale du (...) site, tandis que des niveaux mycéniens ont été reconnus à proximité du sommet. (shrink)

Stéphane Michaud, après une longue et minutieuse enquête dans des fonds enfin délivrées de la censure des descendants et dans les archives freudiennes récemment disponibles, nous invite à découvrir ou à re découvrir Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861-1937). Celle que, trop souvent, on ne connaît qu'à travers les hommes célèbres dont elle a croisé le chemin ­ Nietzsche, Rilke, Freud ­ est ici « objet » d'histoire à part entière. Sans bouder l'érudition pure ­ on découvre avec étonnement les très...

El presente trabajo complemenJa las referencias a la lengua aut6ctona de los día­ guitas chilenos, en la encrucijada histórica de la conquista hispana en el siglo Xlll , cuya primera parte se publicó en WGOS N 2 l.En este número conJrastamos las hipó­ tesis de don Ricardo Latcham con la crftica de don Jorge /ribarren; se ofrece, aderruís, un suscinJo panorama de la situación lingüística en el noroeste argenJino, y las anota­ ciones espedficamenJe lingüísticas sobre el "cacán" de Antonio Tovar, (...) Cestmir Lou­ kotka y RodtJ/fo Schuller, y nuestras propias conclusiones. The following information about the chilean diaguitas'indigenous tongue for the historie period of the spanish conquest complemenJs the previous report published in thefirst issue of the magazine LOCOS. Ricardo Latcham's hypothesis and Jorge lribarren critica/ position are here confronJed in addition to a brief account of the linguistic situation in south-western ArgenJina. There is also a presenJation of sorne specif eally linguistic statemenJs about "cacán" by Antonio Tovar, Cestmir Loukotka and Rodolfo Schuller as well as our own conclusions. (shrink)

This study considers freedom of speech and the rules of engagement in the public sphere; good government, civic responsibility, and public education; and the foundations of religion and society, as seen through the eyes of seventeenth-century Dutch philosopher, Spinoza.

Today, many visual artists are giving the cold shoulder to the static, isolated concept of visual art and searching instead for novel, dynamic connections to different image strategies. Because of that, visual art and aesthetics are both forced to reconsider their current positions and their traditional apparatus of concepts. In that process, many questions surface. To mention a few: Could the characteristics of an artistic image and its specific manner of signification be determined in a world which is entirely aesthetisized? (...) What would be the consequences of a variety of image strategies for aesthetic experience? Would it be possible to develop a form of cultural criticism by means of artistic activities in a culture awash in images? In order to answer such questions, aesthetics as a philosophy of art needs to transform its field into a critical philosophy of topical visual culture. As an impetus to such a reinterpretation of the visual working area, the L & B Series organized three symposia evenings under the title “Exploding Aesthetics”, in cooperation with De Appel Center for Contemporary Art, Amsterdam. Besides the presentations and discussions from these symposia, this volume includes various arguments, positions, and statements in both articles and interviews by a variety of visual artists, designers, advertising professionals, theorists and curators. The participants are: Mieke Bal, Annette W. Balkema, Peg Brand, Experimental Jetset, Liam Gillick, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Martin Jay, KesselsKramer, Friedrich Kittler, Maria Lind, Wim Michels, Nicholas Mirzoeff, Planet Art, Joke Robaard, Annemieke Roobeek, Remko Scha, Rob Schröder, Henk Slager, Richard Shusterman, Pauline Terreehorst, Wolfgang Welsch and Marie-Lou Witmer. (shrink)

The study of Austrian and German modernist literature has a long and venerable history in this country. There have been no attempts yet, however, to reassess German and Austrian literary modernism in light of current discussion of modernity and postmodernity. Addressing a set of historical and theoretical questions central to current reevaluations of modernism, this volume presents American readers with a state-of-the-art account of German modernism studies in the eighties. Essays by Jochen Schulte-Sasse, Russell A. Berman, Peter Uwe Hohendahl, Judith (...) Ryan, Mark Anderson, Klaus R. Scherpe, Biddy Martin, Klaus L. Berghahn and Acbar Abbas, center around German and Austrian literary and philosophical prose of the early twentieth century. texts by well-known authors -Kafka, Rilke, Musil, Doblin, Benjamin, Benn, and Junger - and less well-known ones -Franz Jung, Carl Einstein, Ernst Bloch, Lou Andreas-Salome, are examined. Particular attention is paid to the processes and strategies by which certain experiences of "modern life" are translated into modern aesthetic forms. The unique contribution of this volume is that it combines theory with an attempt to reintroduce an historical and contextual dimension. The authors believe that their revisions of Ausrian and German modernism will themselves be informed by a new set of questions pertinent to the modernist debate. (shrink)

Biography of Habermas -- Critical theory -- Habermas and his works -- An assessment of the impact of Habermas -- Conclusion.

The classical analysis of relevance in probabilistic terms does not fit legal, moral or conversational relevance, and, though analysis in terms of a psychological model may fit conversational relevance, it certainly does not fit legal, moral or evidential relevance. It is important to notice here that some sentences are ambiguous between conversational and non-conversational relevance. But, if and only ifR is relevant to a questionQ, R is a reason, though not necessarily a complete or conclusive reason, for accepting or rejecting (...) something as an answer toQ. Reasons of this kind are governed by appropriate covering laws or principled probabilities and a number of questions thus arise about the relationship between relevance and certain formal-logical properties. (shrink)

In this essay we discuss a class of apparently metaphorical idioms, exemplified by “fine as frog's hair,” that do not afford any obvious interpretation, and appear to have originated, at least in part, in language play. We review recent trends in both play theory and metaphor theory, and show that a playful approach to language is often an important element in the use and understanding of metaphors (and idioms generally), even when metaphors can be readily interpreted by means of a (...) vehicle-to-topic mapping. Based on this evidence we call for a more deliberate inclusion of language play in metaphor theory and analysis. (shrink)

This article focuses on the most recent debates in the vibrant and emerging subfield of philosophy of emotion research. Given the dominance of 'cognitivist' theories of emotion in the philosophy, neurobiology, and cognitive science of emotion, we have witnessed a move away from attempts to pit reason and emotion against each other. This move, however, has opened the door to a host of thorny challenges for how we think about our affective relationship with the world, with concepts, and with other (...) minds. (shrink)

The struggle over legal abortion access in the United States is a religious controversy, not a scientific debate. Religious activists who believe that meaningful individual life (i.e., “personhood”) begins at a specific “moment-of-conception” are attempting to pass laws that force this view upon all pregnant persons, irrespective of their medical circumstances, individual preferences, or personal religious beliefs. This paper argues that such actions promote a constitutionally prohibited “establishment of religion.” Abortion policy in a secular state must be based upon scientifically (...) accurate biology, not unprovable theological presuppositions. The scientific facts regarding human pregnancy do not support the position that personhood begins with fertilization—at which point a pregnancy does not yet even exist. Abortion policy should regard the embryo/fetus as part of the pregnant individual’s body until delivery. We argue that individual “personhood” only begins when the _latent_ potentialities of the fetal nervous system are _actualized_ in the newborn after delivery. The paper argues that instantiating non-scientific beliefs concerning embryonic/fetal “personhood” into the law as the basis for abortion policy establishes a state-sponsored religion. The protection of religious liberty requires that abortion be decriminalized. Abortion should be treated like any other medical procedure and regulated similarly. To protect both religious freedom and sound medical practice, individual legal personhood should be recognized as beginning only at birth. (shrink)

I have come to believe that the whole framework of our current thought is about to begin a long and radical transformation, based on what I shall call a new science of pure consciousness. The content of most of the matters to be considered by this science have hitherto been the concern of some areas of religion, particularly what in our culture we call ‘mysticism’; but the treatment of it would legitimately be called scientific. Thus one aspect of the transformation (...) would be to overcome that apparent conflict between ‘science’ and ‘religion’, which has been so characteristic of our culture over the last few centuries. (shrink)