In this paper I examine two limit cases in which the body is threatened: the experience of emergency as described by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Flight to Arras, and the experience of illness as described by Jean-Luc Nancy in his autobiographical essay The Intruder. In the first case, the everyday relationship to the body is revealed to be illusionary; the body becomes a powerful yet obedient machine. In the second case, the everyday relationship to the body is also suspended, (...) but this time in favor of a weak and objectified body. I argue that these apparently opposite experiences actually presuppose a similar notion of the everyday body, which I further conceptualize, through Merleau-Ponty and his analysis of the body, as deficient and therefore inherently repressed. The paper concludes with the suggestion that writing about one’s own body may be seen as a way to fight the everyday tendency towards repression, and I propose overwriting as a term that can capture this process. (shrink)

This article aims to present a discussion about childhood from the issues raised by the short film entitled Alma, directed, produced and scripted by the filmmaker André Morais. In the work, we experience a day in the life of a girl who lives with her grandmother and who, throughout the plot, weaves questions about her own existence, the senses of life and the dimensions of the relationships we establish with each other. It is discussed in this article, therefore, the power (...) of cinema and childhood as dimensions that invite a dialogue capable of converging art and life, also revitalizing the field of science, from the reflections that are dear to the dynamics of human experience. What conceptions of childhood are presented in the production? In what ways does the chosen approach broaden the discussion about childhood and cinema as potencies? To what extent do the questions raised by the child connect their childhood experience to the experiences of those who watch it on screen? In order to mobilize the discussion, the text is organized from scenes, which characterize the sequence of events that give meaning to what the film wants to express. In the first, the central theme is presented; in the second, the questions for which the short awakens us throughout the narrative; and in the third, it seeks to expand the possibilities of reading, rather than closing them. These scenes support the discussions brought here through Walter Benjamin, Mikhail Bakhtin, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Aristotle and Hannah Arendt. (shrink)

Résumé Placée au carrefour d’influences très diverses, du catholicisme à l’idéalisme allemand en passant par le déisme des Lumières, la religion saint-simonienne pose de délicats problèmes d’interprétation. Il convient de distinguer la vision religieuse développée par Saint-Simon de celle que forgent progressivement ses disciples. L’accent mis sur l’activité spontanée de l’homme constitue en revanche un trait commun. Ces différents problèmes d’interprétation soulevés, il reste à s’interroger sur les motivations et les comportements mis en jeu par la pratique religieuse (...) saint-simonienne. Par-delà ses ambiguïtés, cette dernière témoigne de l’exigence de renouveau spirituel qui s’exprime au cours de la première moitié du xix e siècle. (shrink)

Reflecting on the knowledge of God in the Old and the New Covenant offers us anew way to address the theological status of the philosophical proofs for theexistence of God. In the treatise De Deo Uno of the Summa, Aquinas discusseshow the intellect experiences its natural capacity to know God. The “five ways”are inseparable from one another. In the prologue to the Lectura on Saint John,Aquinas‟s last Gospel commentary, the Doctor Angelicus praises the depth of theevangelist‟s contemplation by comparison (...) with pagan philosophical knowledgeof God, relating it to Isaiah‟s vision of God in the Temple in Jerusalem .“I saw the Lord on an elevated throne” . . . . Saint John‟s vision focuseson the authority and power of the Word: “I saw the Lord,” on hiseternity: “the Lord was seated;” on the excellence and nobility of hisnature: “I saw the Lord seated on a throne;” on his incomprehensibletruth: “an elevated throne.”2Bringing to light the unity of the knowledge of God in the Old and the NewCovenant, Aquinas continues: “It is through these ideas that the ancientphilosophies rose to knowledge of God.” Thus pagan philosophies becomeconnected with the Evangelist and with the Prophets. Indeed one can recognize inthe fourfold articulation of the contemplation of the Prophet and the Evangelistthe central axis of the “four ways” by which “several philosophies arrived atknowledge of God;” God as the intelligence governing nature ; as theunchangeable principle of all motion ; as supreme cause of being; as intelligence and infinite truth . Aquinas briefly developseach of these ways and concludes with a line of Scripture taken from Isaiah, apsalm, or the New Testament. He then adds: “Such was the contemplation of John who because he had seen the Word in its regulatory authority, its eternity,its excellence, and its incomprehensibility, wanted in his Gospel to transmit to ussomething about his contemplation.”3Here, unlike in the commentary on Hebrews 11: 6,4where Aquinasaccents the difference between philosophical knowledge of God and faith,Aquinas emphasizes the unity of the motion of the intellect seeking God, whetherit is philosophical or theological. These two ways of emphasis do not contradicteach other. The natural knowledge which a human being has of God receivesconfirmation and fulfilment in the revelation given to the prophets and to theapostles in the Old and the New Covenant. The fulfilment of the knowledge ofGod by philosophers transforms their “proofs” of God‟s existence by witnessingto the motion by which the human intellect is naturally drawn toward God itscreator. For natural knowledge of God, the intellect leads itself to the conclusions and, in a certain way, “walks forward” to encounter faith. Divine revelation transforms the “proofs” into “ways” toHim, who in reality manifests Himself by drawing to Himself the intellectthrough the infinite action by which he creates it. This natural motion is soimportant for Aquinas that in the prologue he suggests that the readers of hisbiblical commentary verify it for themselves. May we not consider that the “fiveways” of Question 2 of the Summa Theologica, the hinge between the definitionof sacra doctrina and the treatise De Deo Uno, play a similar role of theologicalself-verification? (shrink)

De la Savoie à Paris, de l'île de Saint-Pierre à l'île de Corse, de la Suisse à la Pologne, la pensée de Jean-Jacques Rousseau nous conduit d'une éducation morale au droit constitutionnel, en passant par la botanique existentielle. Du Second Discours et de l'Emile aux Rêveries du promeneur solitaire, en incluant les textes de Rousseau sur la Pologne et la Corse, ces trois études sur la passion, la nature et la politique empruntent des chemins conceptuels qui mènent de l'âge (...) classique à la modernité : de l'anatomie des passions à une philosophie du désir, de la science de la nature à la notion d'environnement, d'une théorie de la souveraineté à des projets politiques appliqués. L'oeuvre de Rousseau, un viatique pour notre temps? (shrink)

On trouvera ici la présentation et l’édition de deux brèves questions de l’Ermite de saint Augustin, Jacques de Viterbe. Dans la première question, Jacques s’attache à montrer en quel sens il est légitime de dire que les habitus moraux sont innés. Dans la seconde question, il défend la thèse que les habitus des principes moraux appartiennent de façon plus intime à l’âme que les habitus intellectuels. Comme le Viterbien oppose sa position à celle de Thomas d’Aquin, on tente dans (...) la dernière partie de l’article de cerner les raisons philosophiques du désaccord entre les deux auteurs. (shrink)

This contribution consists of an edition, and an introductory study, of the questio “Utrum sit necesse ponere intellectum agentem”, dated to 1315-1320, by the Italian Averroist Maino of Milan. The study shows that while Maino defended the existence of the agent intellect in the face of the criticisms of Durand of Saint-Pourçain, he also subscribed to central features of Durand’s noetics, which he struggled to reconcile with his Aristotelian and Averroist convictions.

Sarah is a young deaf woman in revolt, refusing to speak. She marries James, an orthophonist who works in a special school for the deaf. However, what gradually emerges in the course of their relationship is the latent suffering caused by what each of the partners isn't getting. James, tired of acting as Sarah's interpreter, frustrated by the limits of what they can share, shouts out:You want to be independent of me, you want to be a person in your own (...) right, you want people not to pity you … then you [must] learn to read my lips and you [must] learn to use that little mouth of yours for something besides eating and showing me you're better than hearing girls in bed! Come on! Read my lips? What am I saying? Say what I'm saying … You always have to be dependent on someone, and you always will for the rest of your life until you learn to speak. Now come on! I want you to speak to me. Let me hear it. Speak! Speak! Speak! …. (shrink)

Sarah is a young deaf woman in revolt, refusing to speak. She marries James, an orthophonist who works in a special school for the deaf. However, what gradually emerges in the course of their relationship is the latent suffering caused by what each of the partners isn't getting. James, tired of acting as Sarah's interpreter, frustrated by the limits of what they can share, shouts out:You want to be independent of me, you want to be a person in your own (...) right, you want people not to pity you … then you [must] learn to read my lips and you [must] learn to use that little mouth of yours for something besides eating and showing me you're better than hearing girls in bed! Come on! Read my lips? What am I saying? Say what I'm saying … You always have to be dependent on someone, and you always will for the rest of your life until you learn to speak. Now come on! I want you to speak to me. Let me hear it. Speak! Speak! Speak! …. (shrink)

Comment évolue depuis quelques années la démocratie en Occident? C’est au fond à cette question essentielle que sont consacrés les textes proposés ici par la section « Vie politique ». Même si la mort de Ben Laden, en mai dernier, a pu laisser penser que l’Amérique d’Obama avait retrouvé une certaine confiance en elle, le berceau de la démocratie n’en est pas...

The emphasis of systems and synthetic biology on quantitative understanding of biological objects and their eventual re-design has raised the question of whether description and construction standards that are commonplace in electric and mechanical engineering are applicable to live systems. The tuning of genetic devices to deliver a given activity is generally context-dependent, thereby undermining the re-usability of parts, and predictability of function, necessary for manufacturing new biological objects. Tolerance and allowance are key aspects of standardization that need to be (...) brought to biological design. These should endow functional building blocks with a pre-specified level of confidence for bespoke biosystems engineering. However, in the absence of more fundamental knowledge, fine-tuning necessarily relies on evolutionary/combinatorial gravitation toward a fixed objective. (shrink)

À partir des années 1650, la querelle catholique de la grâce voit l'affrontement de trois partis théologiques, celui des jésuites, acquis au molinisme, celui des dominicains, défenseurs du thomisme, et celui des jansénistes, partisans d'un retour au strict augustinisme mais soucieux également de se défendre des accusations d'hérésie en mettant en avant leur conformité au thomisme. Le présent article tente de suivre l'évolution philothomiste d'Antoine Arnauld (1612-1694) en exil après la rupture de la Paix de l'Église. À l'évidence, le (...) docteur janséniste ne pardonne pas aux dominicains leur supposée passivité à l'égard des molinistes ; il finit même par se prétendre plus pur thomiste que les disciples attitrés de saint Thomas. (shrink)

Présente le parcours philosophique de Merleau-Ponty tant dans sa formation que dans ses objectifs. Ses références : Descartes, Leibniz, Gabriel Marcel. Ses concepts opératoires : le concret, l'incarnation, l'intentionnalité, les chiasmes.

For several centuries prior to the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875, individual 'theosophers' in Britain and Europe were quietly in touch with one another all seekers of the inward way. Theosophic Correspondence (1792 1797) is a series of inspiring letters, personal and philosophic, exchanged during the climactic days of the French Revolution between Kirchberger, member of the Sovereign Council at Berne, Switzerland, and Saint-Martin, whom Kirchberger regarded as 'the most eminent writer . . . and most profound (...) of his age'. (shrink)

Is ecological anxiety—sometimes called eco-anxiety—just a paralyzing affect, or can it lead to an ethical and political commitment? At first glance, it seems that this anxiety implies, by definition, a lack of knowledge, and must therefore be overcome in order to live better and be able to act again. However, I wish to argue in this article that ecological anxiety, when it is a fear for the future, is not a pathology to be rid of, but a valuable awareness. Indeed, (...) in a period of social and environmental disasters on a global scale, this affect is above all indicative of a concern for the world. The question that then arises is that of the effectiveness of practical wisdom, in the sense of Aristotelian φρόνησις [phronesis], in deliberating on issues as complex as global warming. However, it seems necessary, to overcome the paralysing anxiety, to return to the sources of a collective practical wisdom that could enable citizens to reappropriate issues that concern them directly. (shrink)

Le Tableau naturel des rapports qui existent entre Dieu, l'homme et l'univers est un ouvrage fondamental pour ceux qui cherchent à comprendre les mystères de la Création. Pour Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, l'homme porte en lui-même la clé de tous les mystères. Se connaître soi-même est donc la condition primordiale pour accéder à la Connaissance. Les textes sacrés nous enseignent que l'histoire de l'humanité est liée à un drame en trois actes. Le premier est celui de l'âge d'or ; le (...) deuxième celui d'une chute douloureuse dans la matière ; le troisième, qui reste à venir, sera marqué par une rédemption, une réintégration dans le Divin. L'auteur de ce livre s'efforce de percer le sens ésotérique de ces trois étapes. Il montre aussi que l'impasse dans laquelle se trouve l'homme résulte de la confusion qui règne dans ses pensées. S'il nourrissait sa volonté à la chaleur de l'Amour divin, il accéderait à la régénération d'une manière naturelle, et l'humanité trouverait la Connaissance menant à la Paix Profonde. (shrink)

Merleau-Ponty s’est toujours intéressé aux rapports complexes entre christianisme, philosophie et théologie. Ses écrits, publiés ou inédits, opposent régulièrement « la nouveauté du christianisme » – comme expérience de l’homme, comme attitude religieuse, et jusque dans sa conception de Dieu – à une théologie dite « explicative », qui ne parviendrait pas à penser cette nouveauté, voire la trahirait. Accusée d’importer le Dieu des philosophes, cette théologie expliquerait Dieu et expliquerait par Dieu pour mieux se passer des mystères de l’homme, (...) des dimensions tragiques de sa condition, manquant ainsi paradoxalement une négativité qui est le lieu même où s’ouvre l’attitude religieuse. Dans cette confrontation originale, Merleau-Ponty transpose sa propre lutte contre certains philosophes et mobilise les axes essentiels de sa pensée : ses conceptions de l’homme et de l’être, une anthropologie de la chair perceptive et désirante, une ontologie de l’être inachevé et inépuisable. Merleau-Ponty was always interested in the complex relationship between christianity, philosophy and theology. His writings, published or unpublished, regularly contrast « the novelty of Christianity » — as experience of man, as religious attitude, and including its conception of God — with a so-called « explanatory » theology, which would not manage to think this novelty, might even betray it. Charged with importing the God of the philosophers, this theology would explain God and explain by God in order to bypass the mysteries of man, the tragic dimensions of its condition, thus paradoxically missing a negativity which is the very place where the religious attitude unfolds. In this original confrontation, Merleau-Ponty transposes his own fight against some philosophers and summons the essential axis of his thought : his conceptions of man and being, an anthropology of perceptive and desiring flesh, an ontology of unfinished and inexhaustible being. (shrink)

Premier volet d'une relecture transversale de l'œuvre de Merleau-Ponty à la lumière d'une connaissance d'ensemble de ses inédits, cet ouvrage se consacre à une période encore mal connue de l'évolution du philosophe, les années 1945 ...

La série Hippocrate place au cœur de son récit de jeunes internes en médecine qui se découvrent tout aussi vulnérables que compétents. Parmi les séries médicales, Hippocrate développe donc une critique de la faculté de soigner de jeunes médecins, pris au piège d’un hôpital public malade de ses contradictions. Regarder Hippocrate revient ainsi à affronter la question : quelle société pour prendre soin de ceux qui prennent soin de nous?

Le 9 novembre 1989, le mur de Berlin s’effondrait sous les applaudissements de la communauté mondiale, rêvant d’une « fin de l’histoire », un monde ouvert et sans frontières1. Moins de vingt ans après cet événement, le Congrès des États-Unis d’Amérique votait le 15 décembre 2005 la loi no 6061 autorisant la construction d’un mur long de plus de 1 000 km pour protéger..

‘Incongruity is never superfluous’Thea Arbee (2016) Is the superfluous a (new) modality?11. Even if much has been written about ingredients that trigger laughter, researchers are still far from hav...

Avec l’article 4 de la loi du 23 février 2005 rappelant « le rôle positif de la présence française outre-mer », les pouvoirs publics pourront au moins se flatter d’une chose : jamais depuis de longues années, un texte législatif n’aura suscité autant de débats au sein de la communauté des historiens, d’ordinaire plutôt discrète. Quatre pétitions contradictoires, de multiples tribunes dans la presse, deux missions sinon concurrentes, du moins parallèles, tout cela pour tenter de résoudre une crise lancée par (...) un amendement parlementaire ! (shrink)

Peut-être l’un des mots les plus forts pour résumer les politiques mises en place pour combattre la crise du subprime aura-t-il été celui prêté à l’ancien dirigeant Mikhaël Gorbatchev. Analysant en 2008 cette profusion d’interventions publiques pour sauver des grandes banques en faillite, tandis qu’on laissait les surendettés se faire expulser..