In the free-will discussion between Hobbes and Bramhall, Hobbes’s principle that actions are necessary is not immediately action-theoretic. The fundamental theoretical context of Hobbes’s explanation of action lies in an understanding of causation more generally. However, Hobbes’s action theory is not simply modeled after the account of cause and effect in his First Philosophy. It introduces a temporal qualification which ranks necessitarianism higher than First Philosophy does: not only a voluntary action, but also the determinate moment when the mental act (...) of volition is formed, is necessitated. My paper argues that this strengthening of causal necessity is due to the Hobbesian scheme of deliberation, which must be analyzed in terms of one distinctive kind of ‘mental discourse’ and practical reasoning, not merely in terms of a series of passions. For Hobbes, the impossibility of a direct representation of the future requires the mediation of a mental construction. (shrink)

Science et sagesse, ou la forme logique de la démonstration Selon la Lettre Dédicatoire du De Cive à William Cavendish, troisième comte de Devonshire, datée par Hobbes du 1er novembre 1641 à Paris, autant y a-t-il de genres de choses où la raison humaine trouve à s’exercer, autant y a-t-il de parties de la philosophie, la philosophie devant recevoir autant de noms différents qu’elle comporte de ramifications conformes à la diversité des matières soumises au raisonnement. Quand le raisonnemen...

Being able to self-regulate one’s learning is essential for academic success but is also very difficult for students. Especially first year students can be overwhelmed with the high study load and autonomy in higher education. To face this challenge, students’ monitoring and self-regulated learning processes are crucial. Yet, often students are not aware of effective SRL strategies or how to use them. In this study, the use of a mobile application with gamification elements to support first-year university students’ SRL processes (...) was investigated. In Study 1a, the Ace your self-study app was implemented in a first-year psychology course, and students’ SRL skills, motivation, self-efficacy, app use and satisfaction, and performance were measured. The results showed a significant increase in autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and metacognitive self-regulation skills across the 5-week course. Moreover, students who used the mobile application with gamified elements showed higher autonomous motivation. Nevertheless, most students used the app only for a limited number of self-study sessions. In Study 1b, students’ self-study experiences were captured using focus group interviews to shed some more light on why students did or did not use the app. The results show that if students feel they do not need support for their SRL processes during self-study, they are less inclined to use the app. Specifically, regarding using study strategies, it was found that only if students’ strategies do not work well in their perception, they feel the need to change their way of studying and choose another strategy. These results are discussed in the context of theory on SRL and how to support it. (shrink)

A child of the era of decolonization, Claire Denis grew up in various regions of France’s subSaharan colonial lands, and was brought back to the ‘métropole’ as a teenager in the 1960s.She has thus had a double practice of foreignness, abroad, and in her ‘own’ country, whichshe did not know and where, in similar yet fundamentally different ways than in Africa, shefelt like an outsider again. As the daughter of a colonial administrator – a childhoodbeautifully evoked in her first feature, (...) Chocolat – she had stood as a highly visibleembodiment of the Western presence on colonial soil. On her return to France, she wouldlive through the more banal experience of becoming an invisible intruder, an exile at‘home’– a theme explored in her subsequent works. From the start, Denisthus drew on her personal knowledge of feeling rootless to explore issues that haveremained at the heart of her filmmaking: the deeply perplexing questions of identity andalienation, assimilation and rejection, desire and fear inseparable from the post-colonialmalaise that affects France with particular acuteness. (shrink)

Journal of Philosophy of Education, EarlyView.

Dans sa correspondance avec Descartes (1648-1649), Henry More cherche à amener l’auteur des Principia philosophiae à expliciter en une thèse infinitiste sur l’étendue matérielle la formule équivoque de mundus indefinite extensus dans l’article II.21. Les lettres de More, développant une indication rapidement esquissée dans son poème Democritus Platonissans (1646), font de l’infinitisme la condition nécessaire de la cohérence interne de la doctrine physique des Principia. Sans cela, l’hypothèse cosmologique des tourbillons dans Principia III entrerait en contradiction avec les principes des (...) choses matérielles dans Principia II. More associe en outre une exigence logique, relative à la définition du corps, à cette exigence physique. Le corps ne doit plus être défini comme substance étendue. Or, en subordonnant la philosophie naturelle des Principia à une ontologie générale selon laquelle une étendue non matérielle est la propriété de toute substance en tant que substance, les lettres de More à Descartes représentent surtout une étape-charnière dans la pneumatologie de More. La correspondance de 1648-1649 marque un début d’abandon du modèle « holenmérien » de l’étendue spirituelle adopté dans les poèmes philosophiques des années 1640. Au moyen de sa lecture des Principia, More opère un premier retour critique sur sa doctrine des substances immatérielles. (shrink)

This article examines Grotius’ lifelong support for Dutch expansion overseas. As noted in other publications of mine, Grotius cooperated closely with the directors of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the years 1604–1615. Right up to his arrest for high treason in August 1618, he contributed towards Dutch government discussions about the establishment of a West India Company (WIC). Three years of imprisonment at Loevestein Castle and, following his escape, long years of exile could not weaken his dedication to (...) the cause. His relatives in Holland, in particular his brother Willem de Groot and his brother-in-law Nicolaas van Reigersberch, kept him up-to-date on the fortunes of the VOC and WIC. His expertise on maritime affairs was in high demand. For example, Cardinal Richelieu invited him in November 1626 to become actively involved in the establishment of a French East India Company. As itinerant ideologue of empire, Grotius sought to further his own career and those of his nearest family members, without damaging the interests of the United Provinces. Through Willem de Groot and Nicolaas van Reigersberch, he provided informal advice on Dutch imperial policy to the VOC directors and government officials in The Hague. He was rewarded with the appointment of his brother and his second son, Pieter de Groot, as VOC lawyers (ordinaris advocaten) in 1639 and 1644, respectively. They served as his proxies in diplomatic disputes involving the VOC, the States General and the Portuguese ambassador in autumn 1644, when Pieter and Willem de Groot wrote a defense of VOC claims to the cinnamon-producing areas of Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka), liberally citing De Jure Belli ac Pacis. Grotius’ vision of empire hardly changed in the course of 40 years. In his view, the Dutch had gone to the Indies as merchants, not conquerors, and should regulate themselves according to natural law and the law of nations. Thus he contributed to the creation of two political orders, one for Europe and one for the Indies. European diplomatic relations counted for little beyond the Line. VOC and WIC officials could act as judges and executioners in their own cause, without reference to indigenous rulers, other colonial powers, or even the political authorities back home. (shrink)

In this article I compare the linguistic skepticism of Levinas to that of the early Daoist skepticism of the Zhuangzi. I will argue that both Levinas as the Zhuangzi use skepticism as a therapeutic tool to question the rigid use of language and to create an openness in the self in which the self is inspired by something more than itself. For Levinas, language is primarily a response-ability; language ultimately refers to the absolute responsibility to the Other. For the Zhuangzi, (...) words are simply too rigid to attune to the subtle differences and changes in the world. Through carefree wandering, the self becomes more receptive to the unfolding of the way (Dao). Both the Zhuangzi as Levinas see language not only as a system of references that is able to convey the world, but also see language as communication; as a response to the outside world. For Levinas, this response-ability is aimed at the Other and is primarily an ethical demand. For the Zhuangzi, genuine language is more a spontaneous receptivity; a wandering with words in which words are open to different interpretations and perspectives. In the end of this article I will argue that Levinas and the Zhuangzi see language as a communicative praxis that mirrors receptivity and passivity. (shrink)

Susan Kahn rend compte dans cet ouvrage d’une recherche ethnographique menée en Israël sur l’usage des nouvelles techniques de reproduction et sur les interrogations qu’elles soulèvent concernant la parenté, la paternité, la maternité et la fabrique de citoyens juifs. Son travail s’appuie sur des entretiens avec des Israéliennes non mariées qui ont eu recours à une insémination artificielle, des rabbins et des juifs orthodoxes, ainsi que sur une observation participante dans une clinique de...

This paper will attempt to establish a framework for the term vedanā. Then it will present the range of the different feeling tones: pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. It will point out that ‘neutral’ feeling tone can be defined in different ways as either non-existing, indeterminate, indifference or the beginning of equanimity. Following this, vedanā will be discussed in the context of the five nāma factors: contact, feeling-tone, perception, intention and attention. This paper will suggest that mindfulness can be of benefit (...) because it possibly gives rise to what is referred to in the early Pāli texts as ‘unwordly pleasant’ feeling tones. The paper concludes by making a connection between the practice of mindfulness of feeling-tones and the cultivation of the ethical precepts as an antidote to unskilful reactive patterns that arise in relation to vedana. (shrink)

L’addition, dans la cinquième édition en 1683 de La Logique ou L’Art de penser, d’un chapitre consacré à la définition générale du signe et de plusieurs chapitres relevant spécifiquement d’une analyse des signes linguistiques, a été parfois interprétée comme une apparition tardive du “problème du langage” dans le traité d’Arnauld et Nicole. Parce que la plupart de ces chapitres supplémentaires sont la transposition de passages auparavant destinés dans la Perpétuité de la foi (1669-1674) à réfuter le sens calviniste de Ceci (...) est mon corps, on a été enclin à attribuer l’importance de la question du signe et du “problème du langage” dans l’édition de 1683 à une origine théologique. J’essaie au contraire de montrer que, dès la première édition de L’Art de penser en 1662, la problématisation des écarts des expressions linguistiques avec une correspondance terme à terme entre les mots et les idées a été indissociable pour Port-Royal de l’analyse des opérations de l’esprit. Selon moi, dans la Perpétuité de la foi, la critique du sens calviniste de la formule eucharistique constitue elle-même une application de cette analyse logique du langage : les passages incorporés ensuite dans L’Art de penser sont dans le prolongement des réflexions de 1662 sur les difficultés d’adéquation entre le dire et le vouloir-dire. Je montre pour finir que la définition générale du signe à Port-Royal suppose une restructuration de la définition augustinienne du De doctrina christiana, et fonde en 1683 une identification de la relation de signification linguistique à un rapport de représentation des mots aux idées, qui vient redoubler le rapport de représentation des idées aux choses établi en 1662. (shrink)

« Notre monde recèle autant de possibilités immenses que de gigantesques échecs. »La gauche détient les clefs pour redonner un avenir à la France et à l’Europe. Plus de solidarité, plus d’égalité, plus de règles, plus de respect de l’autre et le retour du sens de l’intérêt général face à l’argent roi sont les talismans du progrès retrouvé. Le combat politique avec..

An adaptation of an occupational therapy journal has been set up to support trainees in the development of their reflective competencies. A suggestion had been made to write a reflexive statement during their clinical experience. However, the implementation of this pedagogical reflexive approach proved difficult to implement given that it depended on the student’s initiative or the supervisor’s willingness to use them. Following this observation, an evaluation of the project was carried out. This article presents the results of this evaluation (...) process. This approach intended to 1. describe the rationale for using reflective journals in occupational therapy; 2. document the impact of reflective writing in occupational therapy; 3. briefly assess the use of reflective statements; 4. describe elements to be considered in assessing the quality of reflections. The evaluation process made possible to retain several elements from the research and theoretical concepts to support the assessment of the reflection. (shrink)

This research focuses on dinner conversations in family-style group care. Children, who cannot live with their biological families anymore, are given shelter in these family-style group care settings. For the development of an attachment relationship between children and their Professional Foster Parents, it is important that the children feel that they are listened to in order to get an affective and intimate relationship with the parents. In this conversation-analytic research we analysed PFPs’ involvement in multiple activities simultaneously, namely listening and (...) eating, which is referred to as ‘multi-activity’. The analyses have shown systematic ways in which PFPs coordinate their involvement in the activities of ‘doing’ listening and eating, which are when parents avert their gaze from the telling child, they break the social rule which states that hearers need to look at speakers during the telling. We found that when averting their gaze, PFPs do head nods and linguistic means or positioning their bodies in the direction of the telling child. This research contributes to knowledge about interaction between adolescents and PFPs. It further contributes to knowledge about how human beings are able to coordinate multiple activities simultaneously. (shrink)

Je ne dirai pas, pour désigner Archéologie du sujet, les livres d’Alain de Libera, car même si nous avons deux volumes, et si la série doit se poursuivre, ce n’est pourtant jamais que d’un seul livre qu’il s’agit, d’un même individu livre, dans son identité diachronique (2007, 2008). Archéologie du sujet aurait pu ne pas s’appeler Archéologie du sujet, et pourtant le livre aurait été le même individu, sous une autre description, qui aurait été l’équivalent français du titre donné en (...) 1994 par... (shrink)

Les syndicats libres féminins s'inspirent du catholicisme social, et ils reprennent à leur compte les idées développées par Léon XIII dans l'encyclique Rerum novarum. Par exemple, la recherche d'une collaboration de classe se concrétise dans la participation d'ouvrières et de bourgeoises à la vie syndicale, les premières étant sollicitées et encadrées par les secondes. Si ces organisations se donnent pour but de défendre les intérêts spécifiques des salariées, présence et action syndicales ne trouvent en fait leur plénitude et leur sens (...) qu'en s'inscrivant dans une dimension éthique et morale. L'ouvrière est prise en charge dans l'usine, mais aussi au-dehors. Son mode de vie, ses relations sociales et familiales, son avenir personnel sont l'objet d'attentions et deviennent le support d'un projet politique plus vaste. (shrink)

Kenelm Digby’s Two Treatises, of the Nature of Bodies and of the Nature of Mans Soule defends quite an idiosyncratic approach to mind-body dualism. In his use of the divisibility argument to prove that the human soul cannot be a material substance, Digby takes an uncompromising stand for merely potential material parts. In his Treatise of Bodies the present article focuses on the mode of construction of the definition of quantity as divisibility and on its links to two distinct fundamental (...) arguments against the actual material parts doctrine. The first, positive, argument consists of a semantic reason drawn from Digby’s general doctrine of meaning, whereas the second, negative, argument, addresses the traditional question of the composition of the continuum. The latter, the author contends, does not build on the medieval controversy itself, but on Digby’s opposition to Galileo’s claim of indivisibilism in his Dialogues Concerning Two Sciences. (shrink)

Continuing the investigation in his earlier Individuals and individuality, Martine (philosophy, U. of Alabama) demonstrates that indeterminacy in our experience is logically bound to the determinate dimensions of thought and practice.

Entretien réalisé à Lyon, le 10 mai 2012, avec Martine Villelongue, directrice de l’université de la Mode. Historienne de l’Art, Martine Villelongue a soutenu une thèse sur l’œuvre de Lucien Bégule (1848-1935), maître-verrier lyonnais, à l’université de Lyon 2 en 1983, publiée en 2005. Elle a ensuite travaillé pendant une quinzaine d’années au musée des Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs de Lyon : montage d’expositions et création du service des publics de ce musée. Après avoir enseigné comme maît...