Formal spaces have become commonplace conceptual and computational tools in a large array of scientific disciplines, including both the natural and the social sciences. Morphological spaces are spaces describing and relating organismal phenotypes. They play a central role in morphometrics, the statistical description of biological forms, but also underlie the notion of adaptive landscapes that drives many theoretical considerations in evolutionary biology. We briefly review the topological and geometrical properties of the most common morphospaces in the biological literature. In contemporary (...) geometric morphometrics, the notion of a morphospace is based on the Euclidean tangent space to Kendall’s shape space, which is a Riemannian manifold. Many more classical morphospaces, such as Raup’s space of coiled shells, lack these metric properties, e.g., due to incommensurably scaled variables, so that these morphospaces typically are affine vector spaces. Other notions of a morphospace, like Thomas and Reif’s skeleton space, may not give rise to a quantitative measure of similarity at all. Such spaces can often be characterized in terms of topological or pretopological spaces. (shrink)

Gauge symmetries play a central role, both in the mathematical foundations as well as the conceptual construction of modern (particle) physics theories. However, it is yet unclear whether they form a necessary component of theories, or whether they can be eliminated. It is also unclear whether they are merely an auxiliary tool to simplify (and possibly localize) calculations or whether they contain independent information. Therefore their status, both in physics and philosophy of physics, remains to be fully clarified. In this (...) overview we review the current state of affairs on both the philosophy and the physics side. In particular, we focus on the circumstances in which the restriction of gauge theories to gauge invariant information on an observable level is warranted, using the Brout-Englert-Higgs theory as an example of particular current importance. Finally, we determine a set of yet to be answered questions to clarify the status of gauge symmetries. (shrink)

Background: Mental healthcare needs person-tailored interventions. Experience Sampling Method (ESM) can provide daily life monitoring of personal experiences. This study aims to operationalize and test a measure of momentary reward-related Quality of Life (rQoL). Intuitively, quality of life improves by spending more time on rewarding experiences. ESM clinical interventions can use this information to coach patients to find a realistic, optimal balance of positive experiences (maximize reward) in daily life. rQoL combines the frequency of engaging in a relevant context (a (...) ‘behavior setting’) with concurrent (positive) affect. High rQoL occurs when the most frequent behavior settings are combined with positive affect or infrequent behavior settings co-occur with low positive affect. Methods: Resampling procedures (Monte Carlo experiments) were applied to assess the reliability of rQoL using various behavior setting definitions under different sampling circumstances, for real or virtual subjects with low-, average- and high contextual variability. Furthermore, resampling was used to assess whether rQoL is a distinct concept from positive affect. Virtual ESM beep datasets were extracted from 1058 valid ESM observations for virtual and real subjects. Results: Behavior settings defined by Who-What contextual information were most informative. Simulations of at least 100 ESM observations are needed for reliable assessment. Virtual ESM beep datasets of a real subject can be defined by Who-What-Where behavior setting combinations. Large sample sizes are necessary for reliable rQoL assessments, except for subjects with low contextual variability. rQoL is distinct from positive affect. Conclusion: rQoL is a feasible concept. Monte Carlo experiments should be used to assess the reliable implementation of an ESM statistic. Future research in ESM should asses the behavior of summary statistics under different sampling situations. This exploration is especially relevant in clinical implementation, where often only small datasets are available. (shrink)

Multigene delivery and expression systems are emerging as key technologies for many applications in contemporary biology. We have developed new methods for multigene delivery and expression in eukaryotic hosts for a variety of applications, including production of protein complexes for structural biology and drug development, provision of multicomponent protein biologics, and cell‐based assays. We implemented tandem recombineering to facilitate rapid generation of multicomponent gene expression constructs for efficient transformation of mammalian cells, resulting in homogenous cell populations. Analysis of multiple parameters (...) in living cells may require co‐expression of fluorescently tagged sensors simultaneously in a single cell, at defined and ideally controlled ratios. Our method enables such applications by overcoming currently limiting challenges.Here, we review recent multigene delivery and expression strategies and their exploitation in mammalian cells. We discuss applications in drug discovery assays, interaction studies, and biologics production, which may benefit in the future from our novel approach. (shrink)

Player motivation is a key research area within games research, with the aim of understanding how the motivation of players is related to their experience and behavior in the game. We present the results of a cross-sectional study with data from 750 players of League of Legends, a popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game. Based on the motivational regulations posited by Self-Determination Theory and Latent Profile Analysis, we identify four distinct motivational profiles, which differ with regards to player experience and, (...) to a lesser extent, in-game behavior. While the more self-determined profiles "Intrinsic" and "Autonomous" report mainly positive experience-related outcomes, a considerable part of the player base does not. Players of the "Amotivated" and "External" profile derive less enjoyment, experience more negative affect and tension, and score lower on vitality, indicating game engagement that is potentially detrimental to players' well-being. With regards to game metrics, minor differences in the rate of assists in unranked matches and performance indicators were observed between profiles. This strengthens the notion that differences in experiences are not necessarily reflected in differences in behavioral game metrics. Our findings provide insights into the interplay of player motivation, experience, and in-game behavior, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of player-computer interaction. (shrink)

Eric Crégheur, Jonathan Bourgel, Lucian Dîncă, Louis Painchaud, George Simons Pardo, Dominic Perron, Paul-Hubert Poirier †, Gaëlle Rioual, Simon St-Arnaud-Chiasson, Eric P. Tchamdja, Philippe Therrien, Yann Vadnais et Jonathan I. von Kodar.

Eric Crégheur, Jeffery Aubin, Alice Fanguet, Gavin McDowell, Louis Painchaud, Paul-Hubert Poirier, Simon St-Arnault-Chiasson, Philippe Therrien, Benoît Tissot et Yann Vadnais.

Walter Benjamin is a persistent but elusive presence in many of Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe’s writings, and the relationship between Lacoue-Labarthe and Benjamin is accordingly both significan...

We estimate that 208,000 deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices have been implanted to address neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders worldwide. DBS Think Tank presenters pooled data and determined that DBS expanded in its scope and has been applied to multiple brain disorders in an effort to modulate neural circuitry. The DBS Think Tank was founded in 2012 providing a space where clinicians, engineers, researchers from industry and academia discuss current and emerging DBS technologies and logistical and ethical issues facing the field. (...) The emphasis is on cutting edge research and collaboration aimed to advance the DBS field. The Eighth Annual DBS Think Tank was held virtually on September 1 and 2, 2020 (Zoom Video Communications) due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting focused on advances in: (1) optogenetics as a tool for comprehending neurobiology of diseases and on optogenetically-inspired DBS, (2) cutting edge of emerging DBS technologies, (3) ethical issues affecting DBS research and access to care, (4) neuromodulatory approaches for depression, (5) advancing novel hardware, software and imaging methodologies, (6) use of neurophysiological signals in adaptive neurostimulation, and (7) use of more advanced technologies to improve DBS clinical outcomes. There were 178 attendees who participated in a DBS Think Tank survey, which revealed the expansion of DBS into several indications such as obesity, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and Alzheimer’s disease. This proceedings summarizes the advances discussed at the Eighth Annual DBS Think Tank. (shrink)

The Prologue offers an overview of the Reformation of method from Augustine of Hippo through to the Ramist movement, providing an orientation to the rest of the book. It highlights and explains an important nexus of Realism, exemplarism and illumination fundamental to Ramism. Beginning with Augustine it shows how these themes coalesced into a distinctive Christian philosophy taken up and refined by Franciscans such as Bonaventure of Bagnoregio and John Duns Scotus, as well as by Ramon Lull, the Franciscan-inspired encyclopaedist. (...) It traces the continuation of this methodological impulse into the Platonism and Christian humanism of the Renaissance, highlighting especially the topical and Realist (Scotistic) reform of logic pioneered by Lorenzo Valla and Rudolph Agricola. It concludes by showing the reception of this topical and biblical reform in Philipp Melanchthon and the movement of Reformed scholasticism, revealing Reformed Scotism and Christian philosophy as important preconditions for Ramism. (shrink)

Résumé La parution posthume des Inséparables invite à distinguer les deux modalités d’ écriture par lesquelles Beauvoir a fait revivre la figure majeure pour elle de Zaza (1907-1929), son amie d’ enfance et de jeunesse : la fiction puis l’ autobiographie ; et cela à la lumière des appréciations de l’ autrice et du pacte de lecture propre à chaque modalité d’ écriture. Ces approches successives sur plusieurs décennies témoignent de la fascination constante de Beauvoir pour Zaza et incitent le (...) lecteur à prolonger l’ exploration beauvoirienne par les écrits mêmes de Zaza. (shrink)

La relation entre la philosophie et la mystique forme une question " à la limite ", que la fatalité a le plus souvent déclinée en une suite d'oppositions frontales : entre le rationnel et l'émotionnel, le logique et le pathologique, le discours et l'indicible... Depuis quelques années cependant, plusieurs motifs portent à reconsidérer cette relation singulière. Une somme d'informations sans précédent sur les diverses traditions mystiques, sur leurs variabilités historiques et géographiques est désormais accessible. En outre, la mystique est devenue (...) un objet œcuménique et interreligieux de premier plan qui invite à reposer la question de l'essence du religieux dans la traversée herméneutique des différences confessionnelles. Enfin, on enregistre une forte demande de redressement spéculatif face à l'essor actuel des sectes et au développement des syncrétismes religieux. Mais le philosophe est-il qualifié pour comprendre la mystique? A quelles conditions? De son côté, le mystique n'a-t-il point tendance à cacher sa dette à l'égard de l'expérience de la pensée, voire des concepts philosophiques? Plus profondément encore, faut-il lier la mystique au seul " religieux "? La philosophie n'est-elle pas un exercice spirituel, une expérience? C'est justement par cette entrée " expérientielle " dans la question que le présent ouvrage trouve son originalité. Grâce aux contributions de spécialistes qu'il réunit, il répond à trois tâches précises : redéfinir le concept d'expérience dès lors qu'il est assigné à la philosophie et au religieux ; évoquer dans une perspective critique les grands figures historiques, témoins et acteurs de l'intersection des deux champs, philosophique et mystique ; mettre à l'épreuve, selon une perspective systématique et au voisinage des œuvres majeures de Simone Weil, Franz Rosenzweig, Emmanuel Lévinas, Éric Weil et Maurice Blondel, les différentes théorisations d'une relation finalement plus présente qu'on ne le dit, dans la structuration du pensable contemporain. (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)

Ce volume rassemble pour l’essentiel les contributions d’un colloque organisé à l’université de Södertörn (Suède) en 2006. Dans leur introduction, les éditrices, J. Bornemark et M. Sà Cavalcante Schuback, rappellent l’importance et la diversité des travaux que des phénoménologues comme Max Scheler, Ortega y Gasset, Eugen Fink, Simone de Beauvoir, Ludwig Binswanger ainsi qu’Emmanuel Levinas et Jean-Luc Marion ont implicitement ou explicitement consacré au phénomène érotique. Comment la phénomé...

This French paper is a preliminary version of P. Mongin, "Does Optimization Imply Rationality?", Synthese, 124, 2000, p. 73-111, to which readers are referred to.

The relations between rationality and optimization have been widely discussed in the wake of Herbert Simon's work, with the common conclusion that the rationality concept does not imply the optimization principle. The paper is partly concerned with adding evidence for this view, but its main, more challenging objective is to question the converse implication from optimization to rationality, which is accepted even by bounded rationality theorists. We discuss three topics in succession: (1) rationally defensible cyclical choices, (2) the revealed (...) preference theory of optimization, and (3) the infinite regress of optimization. We conclude that (1) and (2) provide evidence only for the weak thesis that rationality does not imply optimization. But (3) is seen to deliver a significant argument for the strong thesis that optimization does not imply rationality. (shrink)

La présente contribution explore les biais de perception sélective qui ont siégé dans la gestion de la crise pandémique du Sars-CoV-2 lors de sa première phase de croissance, puis de décroissance (oct. 2019-sept. 2020). En mobilisant les cadres théoriques de l’apprentissage stratégique (proposés par des auteurs tels que Cyert, March, Simon, Starbuck), nous examinons les erreurs stratégiques de gestion de la crise, en particulier la confiance excessive donnée à des modèles épidémiologiques dont les conditions de production scientifique sont ici (...) discutées. L’article se conclut sur une réflexion sur la capacité humaine à générer des vides stratégiques pour ensuite s’y fondre, échouant à apprendre des expériences passées aussi bien que de la très présente réalité. (shrink)

Biological individuals are usually defined by evolutionists through a reference to natural selection. This article looks for a concept of individuality that would hold at the same time for organisms and for communities or ecosystems, the latter being unaffected by natural selection. In the wake of Simon’s notion of “quasi-independence,” I elaborate a concept of “weak individuality” defined by probabilistic connections between sub-entities, read off our knowledge of their interactions. This formal scheme of connections allows one to infer what (...) are the individuals in the domain addressed by the theory of the interactions. The article argues that if ecosystems do not have strong individuality, they still possess a weak individuality, ecological theories providing the values of the variables in the formula for individuality. (shrink)

PEUT-ON penser et rendre effective l'exigence de la justice et de la démocratie en faisant l'hypothèse que nous sommes tous essentiellement des calculateurs impénitents, avant tout soucieux de leur seul intérêt personnel? Oui, répond le libéralisme politique contemporain qui, de John Rawls à John Harsanyi ou David Gauthier, s'efforce de dessiner les traits d'une juste démocratie réduite à des règles de coexistence pacifique entre ces sujets " mutuellement indifférents ", si caractéristiques de l'actuelle société de marché. Non, objectent les " (...) communautariens " et les républicains, qui en appellent à la nécessité d'une conception du bien commun partageable par tous, au risque de sembler vouloir ressusciter le fantôme de la société close d'antan. Tout en soumettant la théorie politique contemporaine à un examen aussi pédagogique qu'exigeant, Philippe Chanial montre comment nombre des débats actuels les plus cruciaux et des écueils sur lesquels ils achoppent, trouvent leur solution dans une tradition de pensée trop oubliée mais si près de renaître aujourd'hui : l'associationnisme civique qui a constitué l'une des matrices principales de la pensée politique et des sciences sociales du XIXe siècle et du premier tiers du XXe siècle (au moins en France et aux États-Unis). Sous cet éclairage inédit, Tocqueville, Saint-Simon et Pierre Leroux, Jaurès, Durkheim ou John Dewey apparaissent unis par une commune intelligence de ce que Marcel Mauss appelait la " délicate essence " de la cité. Cet associationnisme civique, constellation assurément hétéroclite, vient nous rappeler qu'il existe une forme de bonheur dont la raison libérale et utilitaire est incapable de rendre compte, ce bonheur public que nous éprouvons dans l'engagement civique et associatif. Ce livre qui marque sa redécouverte devrait parler en profondeur tant aux philosophes, aux politistes ou aux sociologues qu'aux militants associatifs. (shrink)

Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) à travers son itinéraire semé d'embûches, a dû affronter l'arrivée au pouvoir des nazis. Amené à sillonner l'Europe il développe une activité de critique littéraire et une philosophie de l'histoire, notamment dans ses ultimes « thèses » de 1940. Ce testament philosophique est influencé par le messianisme juif et le marxisme. Décrit comme sentinelle messianique, l'œuvre de Walter Benjamin se déploie aux confins de la sociologie, de l'esthétique et de la théologie. Sa philosophie de l'histoire contraste avec (...) celle de Nietzsche, mais le rapproche de Simone Weil. Analyste privilégié des tourments de l'Europe, il participera indirectement à l'Ecole de Francfort. (shrink)

This article critically discusses the concept of economic rationality, arguing that it is too narrow and specific to encompass the full concept of practical rationality. Economic rationality is identified here with the use of the optimizing model of decision, as well as of expected utility apparatus to deal with uncertainty. To argue that practical rationality is broader than economic rationality, the article claims that practical rationality includes bounded rationality as a particular case, and that bounded rationality cannot be reduced to (...) economic rationality as defined here. (shrink)

Ce livre, comme tous ceux de la même collection, vise à initier l’étudiant, le néophyte, à un champ d’étude en proposant une synthèse qui soit plus qu’un survol. Dans ce casci, toutefois, la tâche est rendue ardue par le fait que l’étudiant, tout néophyte qu’il soit, possède déjà une idée, peut-être vague, mais solidement ancrée sur le sujet. Il croit savoir en outre que les philosophes sont naturellement intéressés à la liberté de pensée, ce qui devrait suffire pour tous en (...) faire des défenseurs de la démocratie. Quel ne sera pas son étonnement lorsque Simone Goyard-Fabre lui apprendra que très rares sont les philosophes qui, depuis les débuts et jusqu’au XIXe siècle au moins, ont parlé en bien de la démocratie! Il apprendra que même Rousseau, l’auteur du discours fondateur de l’idée démocratique moderne, jugeait la démocratie pratiquement impossible pour les humains et recommandait dans tous les cas, sauf pour les tout petits pays, un régime autre que le démocratique. Pour se remettre de son étonnement, il supposera que la démocratie moderne n’a rien à voir avec l’ancienne, celle-là même que les philosophes ont quasi unanimement dénoncée. Mais d’entrée de jeu S. Goyard-Fabre rejette à juste titre cette solution de facilité. Car ces États qui sont donnés aujourd’hui comme des modèles de régime démocratique, les États-Unis et la France par exemple, peuvent être compris comme ayant incorporé les principaux enseignements de la philosophie politique occidentale, celle qui va de Platon et Aristote à Rousseau et Kant. L’étudiant qui désirera débrouiller pour lui-même cette idée de démocratie qui lui semblait si familière, mais qui est déjà perçue «sous le signe de l’ambivalence» par ceux qui l’ont mise au monde, les Grecs, ferait sans doute un bon choix en prenant pour guide S. Goyard-Fabre, qui nous a déjà offert un grand nombre d’études toujours très solides sur la pensée politique moderne. Mais il se rendra vite compte que dans ce livre, on ne cherche jamais à lever cette ambivalence. C’est plutôt le contraire: on vise à l’étaler dans toute son ampleur et à la sonder dans toute sa profondeur, en retraçant la généalogie de cette idée dans la philosophie politique occidentale, de Thucydide à Habermas. (shrink)

Self-Ownership, Liberal Neutrality and the Realm of Freedom: New Reflections on the Justification of Basic Income. A review of Axel Gosseries and Yannick Vanderborght (eds), Arguing about Justice: Essays for Philippe Van Parijs.

The paper addresses the integration of ethics into professional education related to the disciplines responsible for the conception and creation of the artificial (artefactual or technology). The ontological-epistemological paradigm of those disciplines is understood within the frame of the sciences of the artificial as established by Herbert Simon (1969). According to that paradigm, those sciences include disciplines not only related to the production of artefacts (technology), such as engineering, architecture, industrial design, etc, but also disciplines related to devised courses (...) of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones, like medicine, law, education, etc. They are centered on intentional action and at their core is the activity of design, which is their common foundation and attitude, or their common culture. The science of design becomes the broader foundational discipline for any professions engaged in the intentional transformation of the world. The main distinction between design disciplines and scientific ones rests on the object-project dichotomy. Indeed, contrary to Science that sees the world as an object to be observed, Design sees the world as a project and acts upon the world through projects, which are grounded in intentions, ends, and values. Design disciplines are meant to transform the world, or part of it, and are teleological. Being so, they are embodied in an act that is ethical and their ontology-epistemology must be addressed also through practical reason to resituate all professional disciplines according to their involved nature. (shrink)

Neutralists have argued that there is something illiberal about linking access to gift-like resources to work requirements. The central liberal motivation for basic income is to provide greater freedom to choose between different ways of life, including options attaching great importance to non-market activities and disposable time. As argued by Philippe Van Parijs, even those spending their days surfing should be fed. This article examines Van Parijs' dual commitment to a ‘real libertarian’ justification of basic income and the public (...) enforcement of a strong work ethos, which serves to boost the volume of work at a given rate of taxation. It is argued (contra Van Parijs) that this alliance faces the neutrality objection: the work ethos will largely offset the liberal gains of unconditionality by radically restricting the set of permissible options available. A relaxed, non-obligatory ethos might avoid this implication. This view, however, is vulnerable to the structural exploitation objection: feasibility is achieved only because some choose to do necessary tasks to which most people have the same aversion. In light of these objections, the article examines whether there is a morally untainted feasibility path consistent with liberal objectives. (shrink)

Le dialogue de Paul Ricœur a été constant avec les sciences humaines et sociales, mais peu avec l'économie. Ce silence ricœurien sur l’économie est relatif. Sans faire une épistémologie des sciences économiques, il manifesta une préoccupation constante pour la condition ouvrière (cf. Simone Weil) et les effets pratiques de l’aliénation économique. Il n’a cessé de porter son attention sur le travail plutôt que sur l’économie, sur les échanges plutôt que sur la modélisation de l’économie mathématique oublieuse de l’économie comme science (...) sociale. Son anthropologie est une anthropologie de l’homme capable plutôt que celle de l’homme comptable. En effet, son souci éthique réinstalle sur le plan des évaluations une activité économique, non seulement uniformisante mais unidimentionnalisante, qui résorbe le plan de la valeur dans celui du prix. Son anthropologie de l’homme capable réévalue la figure de l’agent économique. Ainsi chez Ricœur, le souci éthique est-il instruit épistémologiquement par les sciences sociales. Il pense ensemble éthique et économie via les médiations symboliques des institutions et des structures qui rendent possibles les échanges. D'où une approche fine des thèses de Marx sur l’aliénation économique, et plus tardivement une rencontre des travaux de l’économiste Amartya Sen, non sans liens, avec les travaux de Martha Nussbaum sur les capabilités. (shrink)

Several authors have hailed intuition as one of the defining features of expertise. In particular, while disagreeing on almost anything that touches on human cognition and artificial intelligence, Hubert Dreyfus and Herbert Simon agreed on this point. However, the highly influential theories of intuition they proposed differed in major ways, especially with respect to the role given to search and as to whether intuition is holistic or analytic. Both theories suffer from empirical weaknesses. In this paper, we show how, (...) with some additions, a recent theory of expert memory (the template theory) offers a coherent and wide-ranging explanation of intuition in expert behaviour. It is shown that the theory accounts for the key features of intuition: it explains the rapid onset of intuition and its perceptual nature, provides mechanisms for learning, incorporates processes showing how perception is linked to action and emotion, and how experts capture the entirety of a situation. In doing so, the new theory addresses the issues problematic for Dreyfus’s and Simon’s theories. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (shrink)

Simone Weil (1909-1943) foi filósofa, escritora, ativista política e humanista. Nasceu em Paris, no seio de família judaica. Formou-se em filosofia pela Université de Sorbonne e se tornou a primeira mulher catedrática da França. Militou fervorosamente pela causa dos trabalhadores fabris e, posteriormente, lutou na Guerra Civil Espanhola. Faleceu aos trinta e quatro anos por motivos de saúde.[1] [1] Para mais informações, vide texto disponível em:. Acesso em: 25 de junho de 2019.

In political philosophy, trust, legality and violence are interdependent, with different weights, connecting and excluding. Trust structures suffer most from an anticipation of violence or violence itself. Violence systematically takes place in three stages, according to the german sociologist Jan-Philipp Reemtsma: expulsive, abusive, and homicidal violence, all of which have their distinctive and recurring verbal and nonverbal equivalents. The hyperviolence phenomenon goes beyond this, however, and even mutilates the dead body, whether actually physically, or through massive propaganda that declares the (...) enemy a killable non-human. The goal of hyperviolence is a demonstration of absolute power over victim and bystander by means of a traumatizing violation of trust, reason, and individuality. At the same time, hyperviolence is an atavism in modernity (a historical regression); therefore the practitioner of hyperviolence is the anti-modern type par excellence. The french philosopher Georges Bataille introduces here the concept of "sovereignty" and the "sovereign" as the perpetrator also of hyperviolence. The sovereign's sovereignty is the immediate experience of the moment, free of any responsibility, with a rhetoric of mock justification of each of the three types of violence including hyperviolence. With the ahistorical view of escalating violence and the denial of any rational legitimation by the sovereign as the actor of hyperviolence, the structure of trust and the contract system of democracy itself is also endangered. So the question is, how does one unmask the "sovereign" on his way to undermine legal relations already in his linguistic patterns, in his non-linguistic codes, and how can escalation be prevented by early detection? Keywords: violence, hyperviolence, criminal linguistics, Georges Bataille, sovereign. (shrink)