"A demain le bon sexe"... disait, non sans une pointe d'ironie, Michel Foucault, au plus fort de la "révolution sexuelle", et l'on sentait que ce n'était pas gagné. Qu'est-ce que le bon sexe? J'ai écrit ce livre en neuf mois... et toute une vie... Sans doute, pour moi, une manière de réaliser une certaine façon qui fut mienne d'être femme je me revois, dans ma petite chambre mansardée, étudiante, tentant en vain de lire en son entier l'Histoire de la sexualité (...) de Michel Foucault... Que savais-je de la sexualité, que pouvais-je recevoir de cet essai, que je trouvais grandiose, lumineux et obscur? Foucault, le seul des philosophes à parler de "ces choses-là", était bien isolé. Il faudrait du temps pour que ses écrits fassent leur route et du temps pour changer les mentalités. Du temps aussi pour moi, pour pouvoir les entendre, qu'ils fassent écho en moi. "Le sexe, disait Foucault, ça s'administre, la sexualité, ça se subit ; quant à la sensualité, elle est chaque jour à inventer." J'ai voulu rouvrir le dossier, emprunter les chemins qu'il a tracés en 1976 en écrivant son Histoire de la sexualité, qui est l'histoire des discours sur la sexualité, eux-mêmes histoire des corps investis par le pouvoir. Danièle Sastre. (shrink)

Cette étude se place à la croisée de trois auteurs qui laissent entrevoir, à l'horizon du nucléaire, la persistance d'un même questionnement autour du concept inattendu de "déception". Le nucléaire, qui semble accompagné par une multiplication sans retour des discours sur la fin, emporte jusqu'à l'idée même de fondement, exposant la raison à l'effondrement de son "principe" et entraînant le "désappointement" du programme rationnel de la modernité. La raison semble alors incapable de se soustraire au règne du simulacre qui "instrumentalise (...) les idées mais ne les pense plus" (Levinas). Face à la recrudescence des discours catastrophistes, il s'agira alors de "démystifier l'apocalypse" et "l'alternative du tout ou rien qui transforme en un pouvoir quasi mystique l'arme de l'atome" (Blanchot). Derrida, Blanchot et Levinas, proposeront trois analyses qui semblent nous "dissuader" de penser le phénomène nucléaire selon le critère d'une vérité conventionnelle car il se présente sous les traits d'une "apocalypse sans apocalypse, sans révélation de sa propre vérité, sans savoir absolu" (Derrida). Trois apologies paradoxales qui élèvent le désastre nucléaire au rang de principe "d'époque", tout en suspendant ce geste dans l'insignifiance d'une absence de révélation et l'effondrement du sens, exposant la pensée à une "déception", un "dessaisissement", qui s'avèrent essentiels à son renouveau. Il semblait d'autant plus important, à l'heure de la post-vérité, d'analyser cette éthique de la déception qui reconduit la raison hégémonique à sa "fission" inhérente."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

The Early Iconography of Avalokiteśvara. L’Iconographie ancienne d’Avalokiteśvara. By Gérard Fussman and Anna Maria Quagliotti. Publications de l’Institut de Civilisation Indienne, Collège de France, fasc. 80. Paris: Diffusion de Boccard, 2012. Pp. 152, 21 plates.

L'oubli est précédé par sa mauvaise réputation. Pensé comme un manque de la mémoire, le symptôme d'une dégénérescence annoncée, on le redoute. On cherche à l'oublier bien que l'on sache qu'il sera toujours là. Pourtant, s'il ne faisait pas quotidiennement son œuvre, on ne pourrait plus vivre, agir ou créer. Oublier est une faculté universelle et vitale dont les modalités d'expression diffèrent de celles de la mémoire : une puissance enfouie en notre être, une force créatrice capable de nous régénérer. (...) À contre-courant des modes et humeurs de notre société, des philosophes, des anthropologues et surtout des artistes n'ont pas oublié d'oublier tous les fardeaux qui se présentent comme des obstacles à leur désir de création. Développer sa capacité à effacer les évènements pesants et traumatisants qui nous conduisent au désastre est moins un risque qu'un pari, dont l'enjeu est de rendre à chaque personne ce qu'elle désire peut-être le plus au monde : affirmer sa réelle singularité, notamment par et dans l'acte créatif."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

1. L'histoire de l'humain comme catastrophe écologique -- La catastrophe néolithique -- L'homme contre la Nature -- L'humanisme contre l'animal -- Une haine savante contre la Nature -- 2. Substituer des machines aux êtres vivants -- L'élimination de l'animalité -- Des technologies autistes, schizophréniques et paranoïaques -- 3. Machiner l'humain -- La préférence de l'homme pour des hommes artificiels : la parabole de James -- 4. Le post-humain comme point final du désastre humaniste -- La honte prométhéenne de Ginther Anders (...) -- Détruire non seulement la Nature mais aussi le souvenir qu'on pourrait en avoir -- 5. A quoi sert donc l'humain ? -- Remettre l'homme à sa place -- Décaper la morale -- La ressource animiste -- Perspectivisme et multinaturalisme -- Immersion de l'humain dans un monde tragique. (shrink)

Comparative study of philosophy of God in Indic and Western philosophy.

Après Condition de l'homme moderne et La crise de la culture, l'essai De la révolution (1963) est le troisième ouvrage d'une série dans laquelle Hannah Arendt expose le nouveau paradigme du politique qu'elle entend développer ainsi qu'un nouveau paradigme de la révolution. Dans un contexte de Guerre froide, elle propose de tirer les leçons de l'histoire en opposant ce qu'elle nomme le "désastre" de la Révolution française aux leçons d'une révolution supposée réussie, incarnée par la "Déclaration des droits" américaine. Les (...) contributions des historiens et philosophes réunies dans ce volume, analysent la manière dont Arendt instrumentalise l'histoire des Révolutions américaine et française et se détermine par rapport à la Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen. Elles étudient également la place qu'Arendt attribue au peuple au cours de ces processus et dans quel esprit elle se réfère, dans le dernier chapitre de son essai de 1963, aux "conseils" révolutionnaires. La formule arendtienne du "droit à avoir des droits" amorce-t-elle, comme certains le soutiennent aujourd'hui, un tournant politique dans la considération des droits de l'homme? Ne représente-t-elle pas plutôt une machine de guerre contre la notion même de droit naturel, qui se trouve au fondement de ces droits? Dès lors, que reste-t-il de l'idée d'humanité dans la perspective construite par Arendt?"--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

This volume is the product of an important recent conference, convened by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, focusing on the intellectual legacy of the Tibetan philosopher, yogi, and saint Tsongkhapa (1357-1419). Entitled "Jé Tsongkhapa: Life, Thought, and Legacy," the conference commemorated the sixth hundredth anniversary of Tsongkhapa's passing and was held on December 21-23, 2019, at Ganden Monastery in Mundgod, India. Part 1 concerns Madhyamaka, a natural reflection of the very important and well-known contributions Tsongkhapa made to the study of (...) Indian philosophical thought. The first essay, Guy Newland's "Start Making Sense: Finding Tsongkhapa's Middle Way," provides a straightforward and clear introduction to Tsongkhapa's interpretation of Madhyamaka philosophy, showing how Tsongkhapa played an essential role in clarifying Candrakīrti's contributions to Madhyamaka thought. The second essay, "Celebrating Jé Tsongkhapa: The Twofold Object of the Identity View" by Dr. Dechen Rochard explores Tsongkhapa's understanding of Candrakīrti's negation of individual identity. The essay neatly demonstrates the centrality of the practitioner's view of self to the path to spiritual awakening. In the third chapter, "Thinking Beyond Thought: Tsongkhapa and Mipham on the Conceptualized Ultimate," Jay L. Garfield explores Tsongkhapa's views on the nature of ultimate reality, specifically Tsongkhapa's argument that this entails a movement from inferential to direct awareness of emptiness. The essay explores the need for accurate philosophical analysis in the context of meditation practice so as to directly realize the truths about the nature of self and reality that are the objects of the practice. It thus nicely points to the integration of Buddhist theory and practice. The second section of this volume is dedicated to Tsongkhapa's writings on the tantras. In the first chapter in this section, "Tsongkhapa's Masterful Exegesis of Cakrasaṃvara Tantra," I elucidate Tsongkhapa's approach to the study of tantric literature with a focus on his commentary on the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra. Chapter 6 is Gavin Kilty's contribution, "A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages: Tsongkhapa's Reformatory Work on Guhyasamāja Tantra." Kilty first surveys the Guhyasamāja tradition and its transmission to Tibet and the two main Indian exegetical traditions, the Ārya and J.ānapāda schools. Outlining Tsongkhapa's approach to the Guhyasamāja Tantra, he then focuses on how the tradition conceptualizes the generation-stage and completion-stage practices. Chapter 7, "The Shadow of Heshang: Tsongkhapa on Chan, Dzokchen, and Mahāmudrā" by Roger R. Jackson. Jackson explores the claim that Tsongkhapa received and secretly transmitted esoteric instructions on advanced meditation practices to realize the nature of mind and awakening. The volume concludes with a section entitled "Moving Minds," which explores Tsongkhapa's legacy and impact both in Tibet and beyond. It opens with "Jé Tsongkhapa's Contribution to Buddhist Hermeneutics" by Geshé Ngawang Samten. Buddhist hermeneutics, as understood here, is a response to the challenge posed by scriptures that appear to contradict one another. Chapter 9, "Tsongkhapa's Hermeneutics and the Perfection of Wisdom," contributed by Gareth Sparham, takes a more focused look at the interpretation of the Perfection of Wisdom literature in both India and Tibet. The tenth chapter is "Jé Tsongkhapa's Teachings and Translations in Mongolian" by Bataa Mishig-Ish, who surveys the dissemination of Tsongkhapa's oeuvre to Mongolia. The final chapter is BhikṣuṇīThubten Chodron's "Learning, Living, and Teaching Bodhicitta: Jé Tsongkhapa's Contribution to Spreading Compassion in the World." Venerable Chodron argues that Tsongkhapa's approach to teaching compassion is particularly suited for the modern, Western context. While this volume does not come close to exhausting the limits of what might be said concerning the impact of Tsongkhapa's work in Tibet and beyond, it does reunite contributions to this study that briefly converged in Preface xi Mundgod, India, just before the global pandemic ushered in a new awareness of our profound human interdependence. Hopefully these essays will advance the appreciation of Tsongkhapa's intellectual legacy in the wider English-speaking world, where he remains a little understood figure of Asian religious history, unlike in the Tibetan-speaking world, where his impact is justly celebrated. (shrink)

Les penseurs matérialistes, de John Locke à Adam Smith, ont inventé que la vie de l'homme, quoique propriétaire, est triste, que l'amour de soi compense ; l'économie politique fut donnée en surplus, magnifiée par Jean-Baptiste Say prince de la science. Kant en dépit de sa magistrale critique de la raison laissa passer la chose en soi - ce que lui reprocha Schopenhauer. La pensée moderne s'engouffra dans cette béance ; Hegel y plaça l'Esprit en marche, les économistes ordinaires affirmèrent la (...) marchandise substitut de toute autre valeur, Heidegger mit l'étouffoir sur l'humain dès 1929 avec Sein und zeit. La résistance pourtant fut assurée ; Johann Fichte, Karl Marx diffamé par les ignorants, plus près de nous Simone Weil, tentèrent de faire entendre la voix de la spiritualité. La vérité n'est pas un vain mot ; il est en l'homme un moi transcendantal qui appelle ; sans doute l'objet de ses vœux lui échappe, mais y renoncer ne peut conduire qu'au désastre de l'ego triomphant, chacun séparé et plein de sa suffisance marchande. Pour le collectivisme, nous avons déjà donné ; merci bien. L'auteur de cet essai a étudié en vrai ces auteurs, en langue originale. Les amateurs de sensations faciles ne trouveront pas leur compte ici."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Remarques sur les Pensées de M. Pascal.--Les Lettres philosophiques.--Traité de métaphysique.--Discours sur l'homme.--Poème sur la loi naturelle.--Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne.

Gutenbergs tryckteknik ledde till en medierevolution som förändrades Europa. I 1500-talets början spreds litteratur, grafik och vetenskap, men också nyhetsblad om katastrofer, pamfletter om invaderande turkar och religiösa stridsskrifter. Medan mycket ännu vägde blommade renässanshumanismen genom Erasmus av Rotterdam. Han stod bakom en femtedel av Europas böcker, och skulle ge framtiden ett viktigt arv. Nina Burton skriver om Erasmus och hans tid så att man känner sig vara med när han träffar konstnärerna och de intellektuella? Albrecht Dürer, Holbein d.y., Paracelsus, (...) Thomas More och Luther? lika väl som påvar, kejsare, pedagoger och rebeller. Genom honom möter man en hel epok. Vilken var Erasmus hemlighet? I sina brev klottrade han självporträtt med dubbla ansikten, och hans förmåga att se två sidor födde ett samtal bortom all fanatism? en dröm om ett gränslöst Europa, där kultur och vetenskap knöt nya samband. Men då religiösa strider började skaka världen fick han mäktiga fiender. Erasmus visade vilken roll litteraturen kan spela i en dramatisk tid som har många likheter med vår egen. (shrink)

Suppose libertarians could prove that durable, unqualified private property rights could be created through 'original acquisition' of unowned resources in a state of nature. Such a proof would cast serious doubt on the legitimacy of the modern state. It could also render the approach to property rights that I favour irrelevant. I argue here that none of the familiar Lockean-libertarian arguments for a strong natural right to acquisition succeed, and that any successful argument for grounding a right to acquire would (...) have to use my favoured approach to property rights - the 'vector-sum' approach. I conclude with some doubts about original acquisition theory and natural property rights. (shrink)

Sverige påstås ofta vara ett av världens mest individualistiska länder. Här anses varje individ äga en okränkbar rätt att forma sitt eget liv utan hänsyn till kollektivet. Religion, kultur, till och med familjen, äger ett värde bara så länge dessa är ett resultat av enskilda individers fria vilja. Men vad innebär egentligen en individualistisk människosyn? Hur har den uppstått, hur förhåller den sig till idéer om frihet och jämlikhet? Viktigast av allt: kan den försvaras? I "Vi är alla individualister" spårar (...) Jesper Ahlin Marceta idén om individualismen tillbaka till 1700-talets amerikanska och franska frihetsrevolutioner. Han tar sig an individualismens kritiker i den samtida svenska idédebatten och bemöter invändningar från såväl vänster som höger. Boken landar i ett moraliskt försvar av individualismen som vägledande liberal princip. (shrink)

Recent work in the ontology of music suggests that we will avoid confusion if we distinguish between two kinds of question that are typically posed in music ontology. Thus, a distinction has been made between fundamental ontology and higher-order ontology. The former addresses questions about the basic metaphysical options from which ontologists choose. For instance, are musical works types, indicated types, classes of particulars, or some other kind of entity? Higher-order ontology addresses the question of what lies ‘at the centre’ (...) of a specific form of music, such as rock or jazz—or perhaps classical music. The argument of this essay is, first, that a close examination of the best efforts in two of these territories shows that they have the effect of pressing the music in each sphere into implausible Procrustean beds. Second, it is argued that the general question that higher-order ontologies pose, that is, ‘What work-kind is it that lies at the centre of a given kind of music, F?’ is a question based on a mistaken but seductive assumption, namely that the concept of the work of F has actual application. In fact, these concepts—upon which higher-order ontology depends—are mere artefacts of philosophy. The question is also addressed why the assumption is so seductive. Finally, the question finally is posed about what, if anything, is implied from the foregoing about the traditional ontology of classical music. (shrink)

This paper continues a discussion concerning the distinction between disability and handicap initiated in this volume by Steven D. Edwards. Edwards argues that the reasons advanced by the WHO for this distinction in its International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH) are not valid. Edwards also criticizes my own quite different grounds for distinguishing between the two concepts. His general conclusion is that the distinction is superfluous. In this paper I claim that Edwards's reasoning is invalid. I present five (...) arguments for my case, viz., the arguments from: a) practical necessity, b) cost-effectiveness, c) clinical practice, d) the subject's vital goals, and e) the universal presence of some basic action. My own conclusion thus is that there is a need within health care for a distinction between disabilities and handicaps. I also indicate that there may be a need for further distinctions along the dimension of action-generation which is presented in the paper. (shrink)

There is no subject at the interface of law, psychiatry and medical ethics which is more controversial than psychosurgery. The divergent views of the treatment begin with its definition. The World Health Organisation1 and others2 define psychosurgery as the selective surgical removal or destruction of nerve pathways or normal brain tissue with a view to influencing behaviour. However, proponents of psychosurgery demur on the basis that the `modern' treatment is concerned predominantly with emotional illness, without any specific effect upon behaviour. (...) The alternative definition offered is `the surgical treatment of certain psychiatric illnesses by means of localised lesions placed in specific cerebral sites.3It is difficult entirely to accept this definition because, as examined below, scientific psychiatry is not yet in a position to directly treat psychiatric illness solely through surgical intervention. There is no reliable theoretical relationship between particular cerebral sites (which are normal and healthy) and an identifiable psychiatric illness or symptomatology. Given this state of psychiatric understanding, it is misleading to suggest fine distinctions between generalised alteration of behaviour or mood and treatment of an illness. Highly divergent practices and theories (relating to the multiplicity of conditions treated, surgical methods adopted and areas of the brain operated upon) further undermine exaggerated claims that psychosurgery can scientifically `treat' specific illness through precise surgical intervention. Nonetheless, contemporary psychosurgery does not contain quite the same `broadbrush' approach of its ancestors and it can lay some legitimate claim as an effective empirical treatment in narrowly limited circumstances. Major ethical problems still, however, arise and these will be discussed in this article. (shrink)

This article uses two concepts—trying on gender and local gender regime—to examine adolescent gendering processes for 26 girls from two northeastern communities. Based on a four-year study, the author found that the process of becoming a woman is much more provisional than previously thought. Adolescent girls resist, experiment, and practice gender in a trying-on process; gender, race, and class structures in the communities mutually reinforce particular kinds of femininities. This article describes the gender regime of each community and examines how (...) the gender regimes differentially shape the process of trying on gender as these girls make the transition to womanhood. (shrink)

The image of Antonio Salieri is recreated based on the memories of his contemporaries and epistolary and journalistic literature. The author, relying on memoir literature, archival documents and journalistic sources, substantiates his own position regarding A. Salieri’s contribution to the world artistic treasury and artistic higher education, the expediency of researching his heritage at the current stage. A wide range of primary sources little-known in scientific circulation are used, which allow us to reveal the image of Antonio Salieri – a (...) musician, composer, teacher, theater director, rector of the central art institution of higher education in Europe in the 19th century – the Vienna Conservatory. The concept of A. Salieri’s involvement in the early death of is refuted Mozart. The aim consists in recreating the image of Antonio Salieri based on the memories of his contemporaries and epistolary and journalistic literature. The tasks of the research are the analy of primary sources on this issue and the identification of modern approaches to Antonio Salieri’s contribution to the world artistic treasury. Research methods. The methodology of the author’s research is based on the content-comparative method, which allows you to determine the reliability of one or another source, the ratio of traditionally established and non-traditional vision of the image of a prominent representative of his era – Antonio Salieri. Reconstruction was also used – to reproduce the events of the era at the turn of the 18 – 19th centuries within the scope of the research. Research results: The development of the pedagogical heritage of A. Salieri in the activities of his students and followers is shown; the creative portrait of Y.N. Hummel, who, thanks to the Maestro, mastered vocal art, Italian musical terminology, music theory and solfeggio, choral singing and conducting, orchestration, pedagogical skills, combined “Salierian” classicism and his own romanticism. The achievements of Fortunata Valzel-Franchetti as a singer, artist and teacher are analyzed, and it is shown how the vocal-pedagogical school of A. Salieri came to Ukraine through her. Conclusion.The analysis of primary sources –correspondence, diaries of Antonio Salieri and his students, made it possible to find out the significance of the Maestro’s creative heritage for subsequent eras, to recreate his image based on the memories of his contemporaries and epistolary and journalistic literature. 27 archival cases were presented for consideration, which gave an opportunity to understand how domestic scientists, artists and publicists treated Antonio Salieri throughout the 20th century, so often they turned to his creative heritage. After careful analysis of these materials, it can be said that their assessment was very high. (shrink)

It is well known that when resolution occurs in the stichic iambics and trochaics of tragedy word-end is not found between the two shorts so produced: w or, more accurately, that the first short of resolution must not be the last syllable of a polysyllabic word. Moreover, the syllables in resolution most often form part of the same word as the following short or anceps, e.g.: Ion 1143.

This paper is the result of a contribution between ethics and law, which will be used as thought-process tools, to address the complex issue of legal and ethical statuses of GM fish. To find answers, we propose to consider this issue from a wider angle, looking at the relations between the human, animal, and living worlds. We show that it is possible to construct other forms of intellectual logic that, without setting these worlds in opposition, do not lapse into relativism (...) where boundaries are blurred. In this sense, we submit the hypothesis that ordered pluralism should help us to move past a mere Man–Animal relationship to reveal the entire complexity of relationships within mankind and between mankind and other (non-human) worlds alongside it and to which it belongs: the animal and living worlds. With this new logic, “animal ethics” and “animal law” are re-embedded into a set of relationships. This logic emerges from a new consideration: the nature of the contemporary objects we are dealing with. We shall call objects like genetically modified fish “relational objects” in the sense that in order to be apprehended, they utilize a set of relationships of which there are just as many as the dimensions forming them, not as predicates but as primary constituents. Experimentally, in the case of GM fish, we translate this by proposing to typologize legal and ethical considerations induced by multiple relations connected to this object. According to the type of relationship in question, the GM fish will not have the same status; it is a changing object that must be suitably apprehended. (shrink)

Let A₁,..., An, An+1 be a finite sequence of algebras of sets given on a set X, $\cup _{k=1}^{n}{\cal A}_{k}\neq \germ{P}(X)$, with more than $\frac{4}{3}n$ pairwise disjoint sets not belonging to An+1. It was shown in [4] and [5] that in this case $\cup _{k=1}^{n+1}{\cal A}_{k}\neq \germ{P}(X)$. Let us consider, instead An+1, a finite sequence of algebras An+1,..., An+l. It turns out that if for each natural i ≤ l there exist no less than $\frac{4}{3}(n+l)-\frac{l}{24}$ pairwise disjoint sets not belonging (...) to An+i, then $\cup _{k=1}^{n+1}{\cal A}_{k}\neq \germ{P}(X)$. But if l ≥ 195 and if for each natural i ≤ l there exist no less than $\frac{4}{3}(n+l)-\frac{l}{15}$ pairwise disjoint sets not belonging to An+i, then $\cup _{k=1}^{n+1}{\cal A}_{k}\neq \germ{P}(X)$. After consideration of finite sequences of algebras, it is natural to consider countable sequences of algebras. We obtained two essentially important theorems on a countable sequence of almost σ-algebras (the concept of almost σ-algebra was introduced in [4]). (shrink)