But what are functions? Here, 15 leading scholars of philosophy of psychology and philosophy of biology present new essays on functions.

Recently Díaz, Hössjer and Marks (DHM) presented a Bayesian framework to measure cosmological tuning (either fine or coarse) that uses maximum entropy (maxent) distributions on unbounded sample spaces as priors for the parameters of the physical models (https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2021/07/020). The DHM framework stands in contrast to previous attempts to measure tuning that rely on a uniform prior assumption. However, since the parameters of the models often take values in spaces of infinite size, the uniformity assumption is unwarranted. This is known as (...) the normalization problem. In this paper we explain why and how the DHM framework not only evades the normalization problem but also circumvents other objections to the tuning measurement like the so called weak anthropic principle, the selection of a single maxent distribution and, importantly, the lack of invariance of maxent distributions with respect to data transformations. We also propose to treat fine-tuning as an emergence problem to avoid infinite loops in the prior distribution of hyperparameters (common to all Bayesian analysis), and explain that previous attempts to measure tuning using uniform priors are particular cases of the DHM framework. Finally, we prove a theorem, explaining when tuning is fine or coarse for different families of distributions. The theorem is summarized in a table for ease of reference, and the tuning of three physical parameters is analyzed using the conclusions of the theorem. (shrink)

We consider future cash flows that are contingent both on dates in time and on uncertain states. The decision maker (DM) values the cash flows according to its decision criterion: Here, the payoffs’ expectation with respect to a capacity measure. The subjective measure grasps the DM’s behaviour in front of the future, in the spirit of de Finetti’s (1930) and of Yaari’s (1987) Dual Theory in the case of risk. Decomposition of the criterion into two criteria that represent the DM’s (...) preferences on uncertain payoffs and time contingent payoffs are derived from Ghirardato’s (1997) results. Conditional Choquet integrals are defined by dynamic consistency (DC) requirements and conditional capacities are derived, under some conditions on information. In contrast with other models referring to DC, ours does not collapse into a linear one because it violates a weak version of consequentialism. (shrink)

Fifteen philosophers look at the deeper issues raised in the highly popular TV drama, including common morality, legal correctness and legal ethics, discussing the gray areas of legal battles and maneuvering. Original.

Claiming the legacy of revolutionary of 1789, the Republicans organise at the end of nineteenth century the French school in its modern form and developpe a philosophy that is “fondationnaire” placing educational institution as foundation of the nation. The idea of the emancipation of the people by rational instruction without neglecting the moral and civic education is well located in the heart of the French school project and aims abstract rational subjects, despite their unique characteristics and affiliations. The phrase “the (...) Republic will be educator or she will not! “claim this fundamentally political intent stay up until the Second World War. After this period, the school system begin to be invested by the economy; during the period of the welfare state, an original synthesis seems to occur between “republican meritocracy, [...] social equality mass... [the] concern individualistic “(Gauchet, 2002), the rising concerns of the economy and employment, making the question of the qualifications of a concern more central. This delicate balance then seems to break during the Twenty pitiful’s years, then the school is characterized by a multiplicating of its missions, the lost of landmarks and the difficulty to make sense. The actual siginification of the scholar system will be questioned regarding to economic and anthropological influence of neo-liberalism, the requirement for long life education and its consequences, and also the education-socialization-qualification relations. (shrink)

Choquet integrals and capacities play a crucial role in modern decision theory. Comonotony is a central concept for these theories because the main property of a Choquet integral is its additivity for comonotone functions. We consider a Choquet integral representation of preferences showing uncertainty aversion (pessimism) and propose axioms on time consistency which yield a candidate for conditional Choquet integrals. An other axiom characterizes the role of comonotony in the use of information. We obtain two conditioning rules for capacities which (...) amount to the well-known Bayes' and Dempster–Schafer's updating rules. We are allowed to interpret both of them as a lack of confidence in information in a dynamic extension of pessimism. (shrink)

Despite an abundance of research on inter-organizational trust, researchers are only beginning to understand the process of trust deterioration as an inter-organizational phenomenon. This paper presents a case study examining the deteriorating relationship between two international high-tech firms. We surveyed respondents from the supplier firm to identify major elements that reduced the supplier's trust in its customer, using the dimensions of trust identified by Mayer et al. (1995). While violations of ability, integrity, and benevolence all contributed to trust reduction, early (...) violations of trustee benevolence contributed importantly to trust deterioration. Over time, the relationship became "sensitive," and respondents reported many incidents of trust violation. Managers reported primarily integrity- and benevolence-related incidents, while no pattern emerged among operations personnel. We examine the results in light of Hosmer's (1995) ethically-based trust principles. The supplier and customer would likely differ in their opinion of whether the customer was acting "ethically." This suggests that scholars need to examine how many principles can be violated before trust is eliminated, and whether any of the principles are particularly salient in business relationships. (shrink)

This book explores the nature and implications of positive, creative, and loving mimesis and brings together the interdisciplinary fields of Girardian studies and creativity studies in new and original ways. Scientists, philosophers, psychologists, theologians and ancient thinkers are brought into thought provoking and insightful dialogue with Girardian conceptions of mimetic desire, scapegoating, and hominization.

Pancreatitis is a complex, progressively destructive inflammatory disorder. Alcohol was long thought to be the primary causative agent, but genetic contributions have been of interest since the discovery that rare PRSS1, CFTR and SPINK1 variants were associated with pancreatitis risk. We now report two associations at genome-wide significance identified and replicated at PRSS1-PRSS2 and X-linked CLDN2 through a two-stage genome-wide study. The PRSS1 variant likely affects disease susceptibility by altering expression of the primary trypsinogen gene. The CLDN2 risk allele is (...) associated with atypical localization of claudin-2 in pancreatic acinar cells. The homozygous CLDN2 genotype confers the greatest risk, and its alleles interact with alcohol consumption to amplify risk. These results could partially explain the high frequency of alcohol-related pancreatitis in men. © 2012 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved. (shrink)

L’objet de ce livre est le plaisir, son histoire, bien sûr. L’auteur a limité celle-ci à la sexualité, au plaisir sexuel. D’emblée, il se positionne contre les thèses de Michel Foucault, pour qui, résume-t-il, « une très puissante répression des appétits charnels s’est installée au cœur même de notre civilisation vers le milieu du xvie siècle, ne cédant réellement du terrain qu’à partir des années 1960 ». Or, pour Robert Muchembled, qui ne conteste pas cette périodisation, celle-ci, loin de (...) c... (shrink)

Though Robert Musil declared Franz Kafka to be “a special case of the Walser type,” it is Robert Walser who still gets justified as a special case of the Kafka type. Kafka gave his confidante Max B...

Jean-Louis Gardies, professeur émérite de l’Université de Nantes, s’est éteint le 29 août dernier, à l’âge de 79 ans. Il fut, dans les années 1960, l’un des fondateurs du Département nantais de philosophie avec Jeanne Russier et Eugène Leblanc qui nous ont également quittés.Ancien élève de l’École normale supérieure, après avoir dirigé l’Institut français de Hambourg,..

Au coeur du parcours philosophique d'André Jacob, qui enseigna la philosophie du langage et l'éthique à l'université de Paris X de 1966 à 1990 et a dirigé l'Encyclopédie philosophique universelle aux P.U.F. entre 1980 et 1998, ce volume s'ouvre avec le texte inaugural (prononcé au Congrès mondial de Philosophie à Brighton en 1988) "De la théorisation de la condition humaine" qui l'a toujours retenu : "Une Anthropo-logique : comprendre ou expliquer l'homme?" ; suivi de six autres conférences, appelant à être (...) relayées par une éthique renouvelée correspondant à la seconde partie de l'ouvrage. Une axio-genèse y apporte sa signifiante au "devenir Sujet" du corps, dans un versant d'altérité. On croisera le parcours singulier "de la langue au mal" dans le débat avec Robert Lafont, initiateur d'une praxématique linguistique à Montpellier, comme dans la Postface d'Hervé Barreau. A côté de conférences à l'UNESCO (1991), à Houston (1993) ou à Tokyo (1997), dont "Temps et liberté" (2000) pourrait annoncer l'éthicité ; tandis que "Langue et pouvoir" (2009) éclairera plus directement la figuration anthropo-logique, impensable dans les philosophies de la conscience traditionnelles. La diversité des approches pourrait compléter les témoignages venus d'horizons différents, lors d'un Colloque récent à l'E.N.S. de la rue d'Ulm sur Les conditions de l'humain, autour de la pensée de l'auteur, à paraître. (shrink)

En droit pénal, le « parricide » et l’« infanticide » figurent parmi les circonstances aggravantes d’un crime. En 2014, les associations féministes ont sollicité la Délégation aux droits des femmes de l’Assemblée nationale afin que le « féminicide » soit également introduit dans le Code pénal en France. Dans la langue, le mot « féminicide » n’est entré au Robert qu’en 2015. Des dates, des définitions, des lois, des coutumes, des cas, voilà le point de départ de ce (...) livre d’une actualité tragiq... (shrink)

Dieses Buch versammelt einige der führenden Köpfe heutiger pragmatischer Philosophie zu einem konstruktiven Gespräch über die Zukunft des Pragmatismus. Robert B. Brandom, dessen Theorie der Bedeutung im Mittelpunkt mehrerer Beiträge des Bandes steht, hat das Einleitungskapitel geschrieben. Sämtliche zentrale Problemstellungen der pragmatischen Tradition werden aus teilweise sehr unterschiedlichen Perspektiven eingehend beleuchtet. Neben den Artikeln von Brandom und den Herausgebern, André Fuhrmann und Erik J. Olsson, enthält das Buch Originalbeiträge von Michael Esfeld, Wolfram Hinzen, Friedrich Kambartel, Isaac Levi, Ulrich Metschl, (...) Cheryl Misak, Jaroslav Peregrin, Sven Rosenkranz, Hans Rott und Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer. (shrink)