Although a great deal has been written on Plato's ethics, his cosmology has not received so much attention in recent times and its importance for his ethical thought has remained underexplored. By offering accounts of Timaeus, Philebus, Politicus and Laws X, the book reveals a strongly symbiotic relation between the cosmic and human sphere. It is argued that in his late period Plato presents a picture of an organic universe, endowed with structure and intrinsic value, which both urges our respect (...) and calls for our responsible intervention. Humans are thus seen as citizens of a university that can provide a context for their flourishing even in the absence of good political institutions. The book sheds light on many intricate metaphysical issues in late Plato and brings out the close connections between his cosmology and the development of his ethics. (shrink)

This paper re-evaluates the role that Plato confers to pleasure in the "Philebus." According to leading interpretations, Plato there downplays the role of pleasure, or indeed rejects hedonism altogether. Thus, scholars such as D. Frede have taken the "mixed life" of pleasure and intelligence initially submitted in the "Philebus" to be conceded by Socrates only as a remedial good, second to a life of neutral condition, where one would experience no pleasure and pain. Even more strongly, scholars such as Irwin (...) have seen the "Philebus'" arguments against false pleasures as an actual attack on hedonism, showing -- in Irwin's words -- "why maximization of pleasure cannot be a reasonable policy for the best life." Against these claims, I argue that the mixed life of pleasure and intelligence is presented in the "Philebus" as a first best and not just as a second best for humans, and that, accordingly, Socrates proposes to incorporate -- rather than reject -- pleasure as one of the intrinsically desirable aspects of the happy life. Thus, I offer alternative readings of controversial passages that have given rise to the prevalent interpretation criticized here, and advance positive evidence that at least some pleasures are seen by Plato as inherently good. In addition, I demonstrate that Plato's arguments against false pleasures do not by themselves constitute an attack on hedonism. Rather, they can be seen as a strategy to show the hedonist that, in order to be a maximal, or even a consistent, hedonist, he should go for true, and not fake pleasures, if after all pleasure is the object of his pursuit. But, since this cannot be achieved without intelligence, then the mixed life of pleasure and intelligence is to be accepted even by hedonist themselves. (shrink)

Il est habituel de reprocher à la pensée heideggérienne de ne pas penser le corps et de n’établir de lien conceptuel qu’avec ce qu’elle a voulu dénommer comme Dasein. L’auteur de Sein und Zeit ne fait en effet qu’effleurer le problème du corps mais donne pourtant, déjà, à qui sait voir, de précieuses indications pour la reprise de la dimension corporelle de l’homme au sein d’un déploiement plus originaire n’ayant pour Heidegger jamais encore été pensé. Le texte décisif de Heidegger (...) sur la question est un ouvrage mal connu , les Séminaires de Zollikon, qui clôt le débat de manière décisive en livrant la profondeur de la pensée heideggérienne grâce à la notion de chair et en élevant cette dernière à un niveau de réalité que la phénoménologie n’atteint pas. Avec la théorie de la chair ek-statique, Heidegger plonge la dimension corporelle de l’homme dans l’ouverture à l’être et rejoint aussi bien l’expérience quotidienne de l’advenue de l’objet au simple regard que celle du jaillissement de la réalité aux yeux du poète. Heidegger's philosophy is often criticized for addressing the question of the body by merely establishing a conceptual relation between body and Dasein. The author of Sein und Zeit only mentions the question of the body but gives to those who want to see many indications on its signification – in a way that no one did before for him. The key piece Heidegger wrote on this issue is not well known . This specific work introduces the concept of flesh and rises it to a level of reality that even pheomenology did not reach. With the theory of the ek-static flesh, Heidegger plunges the human body into the opening to the being and joins both the daily experience of the object and the burst of reality to the eyes of the poet. (shrink)

Évoquant ce « véritable continent englouti » (Brigitte Louichon) qu’est le roman féminin, les maîtres d’œuvre de ce volume entendent moins réhabiliter que réévaluer cette littérature de bas-bleus. Une réévaluation bienvenue : pour ne prendre qu’un exemple, La Canne de M. de Balzac (Delphine de Girardin, 1836), auquel Andrea Del Lungo consacre d’éclairantes pages, relève pleinement de la « comédie humaine » propre à la France des notables dont l’auteure offre une remarquable représentation. So...

" Cet ouvrage a pour but de laisser parler le cœur de la pensée hégélienne, sa Logique afin de la voir parvenir au bout de ce qu'elle peut. Patiemment mis au contact de ce que cette pensée comporte de plus puissant, le lecteur est paradoxalement conduit à la regarder se renverser de l'intérieur. La philosophie hégélienne n'est pas une opinion offerte à une réfutation protéiforme, elle n'est ni une simple représentation ni une supplémentaire conception du monde, mais une nef colossale (...) dont il ne suffit pas de contredire avec plus ou moins d'inspiration l'une ou l'autre base pour espérer la faire chavirer. Cette œuvre relève le vertigineux défi de déployer un mouvement qui précède son lecteur. On ne "sort" de ce cercle que pour l'étendre, l'enrichir et y contribuer. C'est un fait : la pensée de Hegel est, sur son terrain, indépassable, ou, en dehors de son terrain, jamais atteinte puisque ce n'est pas d'elle que l'on parle quand on croit la mettre en cause. Nous voyons ainsi, plus que pour toute autre pensée, deux camps ennemis s'affronter autour du système hégélien : d'une part, ceux qui, croyant préserver la "liberté" de leur "esprit critique", ne veulent ni lire véritablement, ni comprendre en profondeur, ni entendre parler de Hegel, d'autre part, ceux qui n'en sortent plus et répètent Hegel comme on répète encore une pièce quand on la joue pour la millième fois. Conscient de ces deux écueils, nous avons voulu suivre la voie d'une herméneutique phénoménologique : laisser apparaître l'œuvre comme elle se donne. Attentif aux métamorphoses de cette notion d'identité qui est l'expressive figure dans laquelle se lisent les diverses motions de l'Idée absolue, nous laissons cette dernière s'ouvrir, révéler ses différents aspects et nous conduire d'elle-même à ce qu'elle veut nous dire. La méditation de la notion d'identité fait précisément apparaître les différents moments de la rythmique hégélienne et en fait pénétrer le sens ontologique. Chemin faisant, si l'affaire s'expose, elle s'expose intégralement, et elle se met donc également à nu. Un cohérent principe de connivence avec une grande pensée ne s'interdit nullement les voies de la clairvoyance ; il produit au contraire les conditions de sa juste et saine apparition. Cet ouvrage est donc une exposition ou une manifestation du penser hégélien au terne de laquelle doit logiquement apparaître l'essence de ce dernier, car l'objet d'une méditation approfondie laisse non seulement apparaître le tout, mais il laisse aussi tout apparaître, c'est-à-dire des limites et des inconséquences qui sont désormais les siennes et non celles que l'arbitraire critique importe pour la commodité de ses préjugés. Cette méditation se donne donc à la fois comme un cours sur la pensée hégélienne et comme une irrémédiable prise de distance. ". (shrink)

Le Système de la seule philosophie est achevé. La philosophie, qui avant lui n'avait pas commencé, est maintenant accomplie.00L'histoire entre définitivement, à ma suite, dans une tout autre dimension dont j'ai seul dit le langage et préparé l'habitation.00Une langue neuve révèle ici la neuve réalité qu'elle transmet.00C'est une renaissance déstabilisante et monumentale, telle qu'on n'en a encore jamais vu.?0Maxence.

This chapter contains sections titled: Presocratics Socrates and Plato Aristotle Post‐Aristotelian philosophers.

IntroductionInformation and communication technologies are becoming an integral part of medical practice, research and administration and their use will grow as telemedicine and electronic medical record use become part of routine practice. Security in maintaining patient data is important and there is a statuary obligation to do so, but few health professionals have been trained on how to achieve this. There is no information on the use of computers and email by doctors and nurses in South Africa in the workplace (...) and at home, and whether their current computer practices meets legal and ethical requirements. The aims of this study were to determine the use of computers by healthcare practitioners in the workplace and home; the use and approach to data storage, encryption and security of patient data and patient email; and the use of informed consent to transmit data by email.MethodsA self-administered questionnaire was administered to 400 health care providers from the state and private health care sectors. The questionnaire covered computer use in the workplace and at home, sharing of computers, data encryption and storage, email use, encryption of emails and storage, and the use of informed consent for email communication.Results193 doctors and 207 nurses in the private and public sectors completed the questionnaire. Forty (10%) of participants do not use a computer. A third of health professionals were the only users of computers at work or at home. One hundred and ninety-eight respondents (55%) did not know if the data on the computers were encrypted, 132 (36.7%) knew that the data were not encrypted and 30 (8.3%) individuals knew that the data on the computers they were using were encrypted. Few doctors, 58 (16%), received emails from patients, with doctors more likely to receive emails from patients than nurses (p = 0.0025). Thirty-one percent of individuals did not respond to the emails. Emails were saved by 40 (69%) recipients but only 5 (12.5%) doctors encrypted the messages, 19 (47.5%) individuals knowingly did not encrypt and 16 (40.0%) did not know if they encrypted the data. While 20% of health professionals have emailed patient data, but only 41.7% gained consent to do so.ConclusionsMost health professionals as sampled in South Africa are not compliant with the National Health Act or the Electronic Communications Transactions Act of South Africa or guidelines from regulatory bodies when managing patient data on computers. Many appear ignorant or lack the ability to comply with simple data security procedures. (shrink)

Just War scholarship has adapted to contemporary crises and situations. But its adaptation has spurned debate and conversation--a method and means of pushing its thinking forward. Now the Just War tradition risks becoming marginalized. This concern may seem out of place as Just War literature is proliferating, yet this literature remains welded to traditional conceptualizations of Just War. Caron E. Gentry and Amy E. Eckert argue that the tradition needs to be updated to deal with substate actors within the realm (...) of legitimate authority, private military companies, and the questionable moral difference between the use of conventional and nuclear weapons. Additionally, as recent policy makers and scholars have tried to make the Just War criteria legalistic, they have weakened the tradition's ability to draw from and adjust to its contemporaneous setting. The essays in The Future of Just War seek to reorient the tradition around its core concerns of preventing the unjust use of force by states and limiting the harm inflicted on vulnerable populations such as civilian noncombatants. The pursuit of these challenges involves both a reclaiming of traditional Just War principles from those who would push it toward greater permissiveness with respect to war, as well as the application of Just War principles to emerging issues, such as the growing use of robotics in war or the privatization of force. These essays share a commitment to the idea that the tradition is more about a rigorous application of Just War principles than the satisfaction of a checklist of criteria to be met before waging "just" war in the service of national interest. (shrink)

THE TENTH BOOK OF THE LAWS, which contains Plato's last word on cosmology and theology, has often been considered as presenting Plato's views in a more exoteric way in contrast with the more esoteric style of the Timaeus. And there are good reasons to think that this view is correct. Whereas the Timaeus stresses that "to find the maker and father of this All is difficult, and, having found it, it is impossible to communicate it to the crowd", Plato is (...) in Laws 10 intending to establish a "proemium" or rational foundation for his laws against impiety, which are supposed to be known by all. In this proemium Plato tries to argue for three propositions: that the gods exist ; that they take care of human affairs ; that they cannot be bribed by sacrifices or prayers. The underlying assumption is that learning these facts about the gods will also help to prevent impiety which, like any kind of vice, is often due to ignorance. (shrink)

In this paper, I set out to refute several charges that have recently been raised against Plato’s attitude toward the environment and to present him under a new light of relevance for the contemporary environmental debate. For this purpose, I assess the meaning of Plato’s metaphysical dualism, his notion of nature and teleology, and the kind of value that he attributes to animals, plants, and the land in general. I thus show how Plato’s organicist view of the universe endows it (...) with an intrinsic value that is over and above each of its parts, including humans, and provides an argument for the preservation of species of nonhuman animals, which in many relevant ways are not ranked below the human species. In addition, I show how Plato’s dialogues provide good evidence for human concern about the environment and how such a concern is promoted rather than hindered by his nonanthropocentric notion of teleology. (shrink)

As a follow-up to Stephen Deakin's analysis on the ethics of mercy killing on the battlefield in this journal, this article proposes a moral justification for this type of action, as well as a judicial framework that could clarify what qualifies as such morally permissible action. Based upon contemporary cases, it argues that the current military codes of conduct are incoherent when it comes to the punishment of soldiers who commit mercy killings, and that the military codes of justice should (...) be amended accordingly. (shrink)

Il s’agit d’exposer dans cette étude, d’une part, la puissante efficacité de la pensée hégélienne autour d’un problème traditionnel : celui des relations que Dieu, en dépit de son essence obvie, entretient avec la souffrance ; d’autre part, de dépasser cette pensée à l’endroit même où elle manisfeste le plus de force. C’est en prenant appui sur les pages que saint Augustin consacre au Repos du Septième Jour, que nous parvenons à révéler progressivement l’espace caché du propos hégélien.

We analyze the axiomatic strength of the following theorem due to Rival and Sands [28] in the style of reverse mathematics. Every infinite partial order P of finite width contains an infinite chain C such that every element of P is either comparable with no element of C or with infinitely many elements of C. Our main results are the following. The Rival–Sands theorem for infinite partial orders of arbitrary finite width is equivalent to $\mathsf {I}\Sigma ^0_{2} + \mathsf {ADS}$ (...) over $\mathsf {RCA}_0$. For each fixed $k \geq 3$, the Rival–Sands theorem for infinite partial orders of width $\leq \!k$ is equivalent to $\mathsf {ADS}$ over $\mathsf {RCA}_0$. The Rival–Sands theorem for infinite partial orders that are decomposable into the union of two chains is equivalent to $\mathsf {SADS}$ over $\mathsf {RCA}_0$. Here $\mathsf {RCA}_0$ denotes the recursive comprehension axiomatic system, $\mathsf {I}\Sigma ^0_{2}$ denotes the $\Sigma ^0_2$ induction scheme, $\mathsf {ADS}$ denotes the ascending/descending sequence principle, and $\mathsf {SADS}$ denotes the stable ascending/descending sequence principle. To the best of our knowledge, these versions of the Rival–Sands theorem for partial orders are the first examples of theorems from the general mathematics literature whose strength is exactly characterized by $\mathsf {I}\Sigma ^0_{2} + \mathsf {ADS}$, by $\mathsf {ADS}$, and by $\mathsf {SADS}$. Furthermore, we give a new purely combinatorial result by extending the Rival–Sands theorem to infinite partial orders that do not have infinite antichains, and we show that this extension is equivalent to arithmetical comprehension over $\mathsf {RCA}_0$. (shrink)

Les " Cahiers d'Histoire de la Philosophie " ont pour vocation d'offrir au public un état des lieux et des recherches concernant les grands auteurs de l'histoire de la philosophie. Texte ancien, classique ou inédit, chacune des contributions y a ici pour fin d'éclairer un point fondamental de la pensée hégélienne afin de mener progressivement le lecteur, par diverses portes d'entrée, au cœur même de l'édifice. De la logique à l'histoire, de la politique à l'esthétique, de la métaphysique à l'éthique, (...) les différents thèmes de la pensée hégélienne sont envisagés et exposés par ses meilleurs et plus célèbres spécialistes. Cette puissante architecture révèle ainsi sous leur plume à la fois son ampleur et ses plus beaux ornements. (shrink)

Il tema sviluppato nel presente intervento è il rapporto tra narrazione e costruzione storica. Si prenderà in esame l’accezione di narrativa correntemente utilizzata nel mondo storiografico facendola dialogare con il paradigma dei _global middle ages_, espressione coniata nel 2018 dalle storiche Catherine Holmes e Naomi Standen. Per meglio mettere in risalto tali dinamiche un caso di studio sarà offerto dalla vicenda di Federico II, con particolare enfasi alla costruzione biografica e dei miti nel rapporto con le culture altre. Il fine (...) sarà di superare le due tradizionali macro interpretazioni dell’idea di Medioevo, analizzate da Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri e David Matthews: Medioevo arretrato regno di oscurità e Medioevo vagheggiato come luce del mattino, all’origine di molte identità politiche contemporanee – non ultima quella dell’Unione Europea. _The topic we intend to develop in this essay is the relationship between narration and historical construction. We will examine the meaning behind the current concept of narrative in historiography, with a dialectical approach towards the paradigm of _global Middle Ages_, an expression firstly used by historians Catherine Holmes and Naomi Standen in 2018. To perform an in depth analysis of the abovementioned relationship, we will use as a case study the figure of Frederick II. A significant emphasis will be put on the biographical construction and myths, especially in the relationship with other cultures. The aim of our essay is to provide a framework within it would be easier to overcome the two traditional macro interpretations of Middle Ages, studied by Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri and David Matthews: Middle Ages as a backward reign of darkness and Middle Ages as the morning light, at the origin of many contemporary political identities – not least that of the European Union_. (shrink)

In many mammalian cell types, increases in the level of nonpolymerized tubulin cause an inhibition in tubulin synthesis which is accompanied by a decrease in tubulin mRNA levels. To see whether inhibition is caused by nuclear or cytoplasmic events, two groups have recently examined the ability of enucleated cells to autoregulate tubulin synthesis.1,2 These experiments have demonstrated that transcription, processing, and transport of tubulin mRNAs from the nucleus to the cytoplasm are not major sites of autoregulation. Instead, monomeric tubulin must (...) reduce, either directly or indirectly, the translatability of its own message. (shrink)

Claudel est le « poëte » de la présence de la Vérité, pour qui la « poësie » est manifestation musicale de la pensée. Le poëte chante la présence dans le monde de la Cause du monde, présence transcendante au monde, mais médiatisée, à la différence du divin de Hölderlin. L'Absolu n'est pas muet, il parle par le Christ, présent dans l'Église par l'eucharistie. De là vient l'idée d'une « poësie intégrale ». Contre la voie de l'apophatisme, Claudel invoque la (...) co-naissance de l'homme et de Dieu. Le poëte est l'homme de l'être, fidèle à Mnémosyne, la mère des Muses, qui est la grâce. Claudel est conscient que ses œuvres sont et seront méconnues en raison de l'ontologie et de l' exégèse biblique qui les nourrissent. Claudel is the poet of the presence of Truth, for whom the poetry is a musical manifestation of thought. The poet sings the presence in the world of the Cause of the world, the transcendent presence to the world, but mediated, unlike Hölderlin's divine. The Absolute is not dumb, it speaks through Christ, present in the Church through the Eucharist. From there comes the idea of an « integral poetry ». Against the way of apophatism, Claudel calls upon the co-birth of the man and the God. The poet is the man of the being, the believer to Mnemosyne, the mother of Muses, who is grace. Claudel is aware that his works are and will be underestimated because of the ontology and of the biblical exegesis which feed them. (shrink)

In this paper I re-examine the status of the mind-body relation in several of Plato’s late dialogues. A range of views has been attributed to Plato here. For example, it has been thought that Plato is a substance dualist, for whom the mind can exist independently of the body; or an attribute dualist, who has left behind the strong dualistic commitments of the Phaedo by allowing that the mind may be the subject of spatial movements. But even in cases where (...) a classification of Plato as a holder of a particular ontology of the mind has been left undefined, it has been a shared assumption that in the late dialogues the mind itself must be immaterial. I take issue with these various views and show that none of them is necessitated by the text. In the first place, I argue there is strong evidence against the view that Plato should, in his late period, be committed not only to substance dualism, but also to attribute dualism. Furthermore, it is possible that Plato may have allowed that the mind itself be a three-dimensional corporeal entity (in a way that sets up a precedent for later Stoic developments). But even if this is not the only possible reading of the text, it is shown how at any rate the mind must be seen in late Plato as the principle of organization of a body and ontologically inseparable from it. Despite prima facie affinities with Aristotle here, we shall see a Plato emerge for whom the mind (without exception) and the body cannot exist without one another – a thesis more radical than that of Aristotle’s. To bring out the provocative nature of this suggestion, I start, in section I, by laying out the state of the question and compare what I shall argue is the late Platonic view with standard interpretations of his previous work, stressing the historical force that I expect this thesis to have. Afterwards, in three respective sections, I proceed to pay heed to relevant passages in the Timaeus, Philebus and Laws in order to establish the main point of this paper. Finally, in section V, I consider the challenge apparently introduced against my thesis by Plato’s occasional talk of immortality and eschatology in those dialogues, and argue instead that many of those passages add further strength to the view defended in this essay. (shrink)