This book is addressed to all those who are interested in the question of God, no matter what their convictions, and sets out to show that belief in God is far from being absurd.

Dans cet entretien avec Dominique Wolton, Edgar Morin évoque la naissance des recherches sur la communication, à partir de son propre itinéraire de chercheur.In this interview by Dominique Wolton, Edgar Morin evokes the emergence of French research into communication, making particular reference to his own research career.

Les femmes ont des yeux, des cheveux, une peau, des idées, des jambes, un sexe, une date de naissance, des hommes dans la tête, un problème avec Isaac Newton, de petits poudriers qu'elles sortent de leur sac, et le pouvoir d'arrêter les voitures... Il fallait sans doute le regard d'un homme pour s'en rendre compte. Dominique Quessada est philosophe et écrivain. Il regarde ce qu'il y a pour lui de plus mystérieux et de plus proche à la fois : (...) les femmes. Ce livre s'adresse à elles, mais il peut aussi servir de guide à l'usage des aveugles, sourds et malentendants : les hommes. (shrink)

Trois courts textes qui se présentent comme trois petits traités sur le bonheur, sur ces trois "complexités" énigmatiques qui enchantent et illuminent nos vies : l'amour, la poésie et la sagesse, et les liens qui les unissent. Issus de conférences prononcées en 1990 et 1995.

pt. 1. Gaston Bachelard's historical epistemology.--pt. 2. For a critique of epistemology.

Qu'un interet renouvele se manifeste aujourd'hui pour la versant epistemologique de l'oeuvre de Gaston Bachelard peut se comprendre au regard de l'histoire contemporaine de la philosophie des sciences. Cette histoire a ete dominee durant la plus grande partie du XXe siecle par une doctrine - celle de l'empirisme (ou positivisme) logique - promue a Vienne a la fin des annees 1920 par une institution originale, le Cercle de Vienne qui publie son manifeste en 1929, et s'organise comme un mouvement a (...) visee universelle et progressiste - celui de la conception scientifique du monde. La tradition francaise de la philosophie des sciences a pris d'entree de jeu un tout autre chemin. Si elle ne les a pas ignorees, elle a refuse de souscrire aux theses majeures du positivisme logique lorsqu'il s'est presente a elle. Elle a toujours lie etroitement philosophie et histoire des sciences. Dans le titre de ce petit livre ecrit durant l'annee universitaire 1967-1968 sous la direction de Georges Canquilhem, Dominique Lecourt a avance l'expression d'epistemologie historique pour signaler, a propos de Gaston Bachelard, cette particularite. (shrink)

The terrorist attacks of 2001 were a reminder that individual and collective safety cannot be taken for granted. Since then, physicians, alongside public health professionals and other healthcare professionals as well as nonhealthcare personnel, have been developing plans to enhance the protection of public health and the provision of medical care in response to various threats, including acts of terrorism or bioterrorism. Included in those plans are strategies to attend to large numbers of victims and help prevent greater harm to (...) even larger populations. (shrink)

Quite a few recent models are rapidly introducing new concepts describing different levels of consciousness. This situ- ation is getting confusing because some theorists formulate their models without making reference to existing views, redun- dantly adding complexity to an already difficult problem. In this paper, I present and compare nine neurocognitive models to highlight points of convergence and divergence. Two aspects of consciousness seem especially important: perception of self in time and complexity of self-representations. To this I add frequency of (...) self-focus, amount of self-related informa- tion, and accuracy of self-knowledge. Overall, I conclude that many novel concepts (e.g., reflective, primary, core, extend- ed, recursive, and minimal consciousness) are useful in helping us distinguish between delicate variations in consciousness and in clarifying theoretical issues that have been intensely debated in the scientific literature—e.g., consciousness in rela- tion to mirror self-recognition and language. (shrink)

This study examines the concept of food morality and explores its implications for today's world. The analysis carried out allowed us to develop a theoretical construct that approaches food morality from a holistic and interconnected perspective, providing us with a new way of understanding it. This new perspective on food morality will serve as an overarching framework for guiding individual choices, public policy making, and transformative actions needed to address the complex challenges facing food systems in the modern world. The (...) theoretical approach used in this study focuses on the elements that shape food morality, considering its different contexts. This theoretical approach provides a solid basis for proposing a new food morality. (shrink)

Food ethics in the indigenous context is associated with a historical and profound relationship that indigenous groups have with nature. To address this relationship and identify the food uses associated with the maguey plant from a biocultural perspective among the Ngigua indigenous people living in the municipality of Tlacotepec de Benito Juárez in Puebla, the three main communities in the municipality of Tlacotepec de Benito Juárez that make use of the maguey plant were chosen. The study was carried out with (...) a qualitative approach, using a semi-structured interview as a research technique. The analysis carried out recognises the importance of the maguey plant as a biocultural resource for the Ngigua in a context of ethical deliberation. Among the food uses associated with the maguey plant, the following are identified: pulque (a drink of pre-Hispanic origin) and red worm. Women play an important role, participating in 80% of the preparation of both foods. The cultural environment of the maguey is a way of life that, in the case of the Ngigua people, represents a strategic element for survival. In times of food crisis, the study shows how ethnic food strategies in a context of ethical deliberation can constitute an alternative for the design of food solutions in territories with food shortages. (shrink)

Public surveys conducted in many countries report widespread willingness of individuals to donate a kidney while alive to a family member or close friend, yet thousands suffer and many die each year while waiting for a kidney transplant. Advocates of financial incentive programs or “regulated markets” in kidneys present the problem of the kidney shortage as one of insufficient public motivation to donate, arguing that incentives will increase the number of donors. Others believe the solutions lie—at least in part—in facilitating (...) so-called “altruistic donation;” harnessing the willingness of relatives and friends to donate by addressing the many barriers which serve as disincentives to living donation. Strategies designed to minimize financial barriers to donation and the use of paired kidney exchange programs are increasingly enabling donation, and now, an innovative program designed to address what has been termed “chronologically incompatible donation” is being piloted at the University of California, Los Angeles, and elsewhere in the United States. In this program, a person whose kidney is not currently required for transplantation in a specific recipient may instead donate to the paired exchange program; in return, a commitment is made to the specified recipient that priority access for a living-donor transplant in a paired exchange program will be offered when or if the need arises in the future. We address here potential ethical concerns related to this form of organ “banking” from living donors, and argue that it offers significant benefits without undermining the well-established ethical principles and values currently underpinning living donation programs. (shrink)

Der Beitrag fragt danach, was einem Subjekt durch ein psychisches Trauma angetan wird. In diesem Zusammenhang setzt er sich mit Tendenzen auseinander, die derzeit in der Psychoanalyse im Umgang mit Traumata zu beobachten sind: Steht ein Trauma im Zentrum ihrer Aufmerksamkeit, tendierten Psychoanalytiker dazu, darin ein für ihre klinische Arbeit spezielles oder gar außergewöhnliches Problem zu sehen, das nach »etwas Anderem« als der grundlegenden Methode der Psychoanalyse verlangt. Demgegenüber wird die Auffassung vertreten, dass ein Trauma untrennbar mit dem Seelenleben verwoben (...) ist. So etwas wie eine nichttraumatische Psychopathologie, so der Autor, gibt es nicht. Jede traumatisierte Psyche, unabhängig von der Intensität des Traumas, stehe darum im Grunde vor demselben Problem: Wie lässt sich der grundsätzliche Mechanismus der Wiederholung überwinden und eine ergebnisoffene Symbolisierung erreichen? Um diese Prozesse beschreiben zu können – die auch anhand einer Vignette illustriert werden –, schlägt der Autor die Unterscheidung zwischen »Subjektivität« und »Subjektalität« vor. (shrink)

The analysis of identity in cases of memory loss, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease, sheds light on relevant philosophical and practical concerns, such as decision-making processes, autonomy, and the improvement of interaction with patients. Literature on psychological continuity recognizes identity when there are no disruptions in memory, which is certainly not the case in Alzheimer´s disease. Narrative identity, particularly in its relational and non-relational versions, delivers tools which are not exempt from difficulties. Either the caregivers’ narrative or the patient’s narrative is (...) dismissed. Furthermore, if there is a contradiction of narratives in relational theories, we are advised to either find the best narrative or seek agreement. However, one option rejects one narrative, while the other is unattainable in practice for the case in question. Hence, we propose drawing from ironism (Rorty, 1989), which suggests duality of dialogues when dealing with problems. This will be used to defend that the narratives of both, a person with Alzheimer and those close to them, are valid when constituting identity of the former. In this case, we will articulate and defend relational ironism, which allows us to embrace inconsistent narratives without seeking agreements. According to this, personal identity in this case is in constant tension between the narratives of those who suffer Alzheimer’s disease and the narratives of those close to them. We close illustrating possible benefits for how best to interact with patients. (shrink)

El estudio es una aportación teórica cuyo objetivo es valorar un conjunto de elementos que sustenten la conveniencia de crear un diseño institucional que permita la funcionalidad y permanencia de un modelo de desarrollo de fuerte integración social en América Latina, con énfasis en el caso venezolano. Se construyó un modelo para el diseño de instituciones bajo un marco valorativo neosocialista, con el fin de darles respuestas a la dinámicas de cambios sociales en los territorios venezolanos y America Latina.

If we consider human thought as the, so far, ultimate, if not supreme, stage in the evolution of life on Earth, we must also try to understand the evolutionary conditions that allowed it to emerge, and that leads us to look again at living organization.Whatever the origins of life (cf. the text of Jacques Reisse, p. 53), it is clear that the oldest living organization, that of a protobacteria, is extremely complex in its functional and complementary association of extremely diverse (...) macro-molecules, and that this complexity includes in particular: a) the organization of exchanges with an environment from which it draws both matter-energy and organization ; b) a permanent process of self-reorganization through the replacing of molecules that have deteriorated and through the production of new ones; c) the organization of the self-reproduction of the creature through division. An organization of this kind includes a quasi-informational dimension (the hereditary message inscribed in the genes and the capacity to extract information from the environment), a quasi-computational dimension (the processing of data, via indices or quasi-signs from the interior and exterior), and a communicational dimension (internal RNA-protein communication and external communication with its congeners). In short, from the beginning, a living being is the product/producer of a self-eco-organization the nature of which is at the same time computational, informational, and communicational. In other words, within every living organization, there is a cognitive dimension, but this cognitive dimension is undifferentiated within it. (shrink)

Understanding how meaning mechanisms are unleashed in film has been at the center of numerous theoretical surveys of the last few years. Emphasis has especially fallen on seeing as a constructive, meaningful activity and on the diegetic implications of vision. This book is an attempt to extend film theorizing into a new realm, where hearing proves as important as seeing and where the relevance of filmic narrative is differently explored. New paths for future research are suggested by means of associations (...) with the works of linguists or philosophers who have never addressed film theory directly in their writings. Nonetheless, several concepts posited by them (relevance, natural versus non-natural meaning or the notion of Mental spaces) find their application in the present survey. A wide range of examples starting with point-of-view and editing occurrences, passing through the use of music and sound and culminating with the study of whole filmic ensembles, enables the reader to re-examine code-bound or, on the contrary, deviational structures. These are often drawn from familiar sources, proving that not only art films of the Eisenstein or Godard type enhance innovative meaning spaces. Finally, the viewer is seen as a «silly little kitty», an active not passive receiver of textual structures who relies on patterns of known visual or aural backgrounds open to an unlimited field of perspectives. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThe presence of emotional words and content in stories has been shown to enhance a story’s memorability, and its cultural success. Yet, recent cultural trends run in the opposite direction. Using the Google Books corpus, coupled with two metadata-rich corpora of Anglophone fiction books, we show a decrease in emotionality in English-speaking literature starting plausibly in the nineteenth century. We show that this decrease cannot be explained by changes unrelated to emotionality, and that, in our three corpora, the decrease is (...) driven almost entirely by a decline in the proportion of positive emotion-related words, while the frequency of negative emotion-related words shows little if any decline. Consistently with previous studies, we also find a link between ageing and negative emotionality at the individual level. (shrink)

Alors que la guerre était associée au masculin, quelques femmes en France ont combattu au cours des guerres civiles des XVIe-XVIIe siècles ou ont servi dans les armées royales, qu’accompagnaient de plus de nombreuses civiles. Avec la Révolution française, le service dans la garde nationale et, moins directement, dans l’armée est lié à la citoyenneté. En réclamant le port des armes au sein de la garde nationale, des militantes révolutionnaires revendiquaient ainsi un des droits politiques du citoyen, ce qui provoqua (...) un ferme refus. Mues par le désir de défendre la République et de partager avec les hommes la gloire de se battre pour elle, des citoyennes s’engagèrent par ailleurs individuellement dans les armées, où elles continuèrent à servir après le décret du 30 avril 1793 qui les en chassait. Les demandes d’armement des militantes et les réponses qui leur sont apportées, ainsi que les histoires, les propos des soldates et les réactions qu’elles ont suscitées permettent d’analyser l’association entre masculin, armes et citoyenneté et d’étudier les mécanismes de l’exclusion des femmes des armées. (shrink)

The real, thought of as human reality, that is, a mixture of the imaginary, mythology, emotions, flesh, passions, suffering, love, is always surprising, full of possibilities and hard to grasp. A thinking adapted to the complex reality of our earthly homeland cannot be a trivial realism content with the established order and accepting the victory of the victorious. On the contrary, understanding of reality, lucidity are often the result of an ethical revolt against the fait accompli, against certainty. The thinking (...) suggested by Morin attempts to move beyond the alternatives between, on the one hand, the worst option: the utopia that thinks it is realistic, and on the other the utopia that knows it is utopia, and is therefore harmless, outside the real. The hope is to introduce the poetry of intensity into reality, to resist the oppressive forces of pseudo-realism by cultivating the garden of our earthly homeland. (shrink)

In the past, researchers have focused mainly on the effects and consequences of self-awareness; however, they have neglected a more basic issue pertaining to the specific mechanisms that initiate and sustain self-perception. The author presents a model of self-awareness that proposes the existence of 3 sources of self-information. First, the social milieu includes early face-to-face interactions, self-relevant feedback, a social comparison mechanism that leads to perspective taking, and audiences. Second, contacts with objects and structures in the physical environment foster self–world (...) differentiation in infants; this environment also contains self-focusing and reflecting stimuli, such as mirrors and video cameras. Third, the self can develop bodily awareness through proprioception and can reflect on itself using imagery and inner speech. Furthermore, self-awareness is mainly mediated by the prefrontal lobes. The author establishes various links among these different neurological, social, ecological, and cognitive elements of the model. (shrink)

Dans Les Tragiques (1616, « Les feux »), Agrippa d’Aubigné raconte que, alors que dans sa prison le célèbre martyr du Bourg était prêt de flancher : Ce cœur tremblant revint à la voix d’une Caille :Pauvre femme, mais riche, et si riche que lorsUn plus riche trouva l’aumône en ses trésors.O combien d’efficace est la voix qui console,Quand le conseiller joint l’exemple à sa parole,Comme fit celle-là qui, pour ainsi prêcher,Fit en ces mêmes jours sa chaire d’un bûcher. Cette (...) Caille célébrée par... (shrink)

Can we say that the mathematical signs refer, beyond the mathematical sense, to ideal objects which would correspond to this sense and realize it? Parallel to this, if Husserl affirms that the intuition of essences and sensitive intuition participate in the same generic concept of intuition as a giving act, can we however affirm that mathematical evidence is giving ideal objects such as sensitive perception gives individual objects?We show that the notions of object and evidence have a different status and (...) other modalities in mathematics than in other fields, and that the notion of categorical intuition must be replaced by that of categorical fulfilment, which designates the totality of theoretical procedures by which knowledge is validated. Against the temptation of the universalization of concepts, we advocate a regional phenomenology, practiced closely to the fields of thematized objects and their specific mode of access. (shrink)

This paper investigates the literal, metaphorical and ideological implications of ‘hybrid’ texts/genres for criticism in general, and for the workshopping of creative work in particular. The question underlying this investigation concerns the place of poetic discourse in fictocriticism. This is consonant with my understanding of genre as ‘index and mark’ representing ‘the site of the nonsubstitutable positioning of the I and the you and of their modalities of expression’ and of poetic discourse as ‘an unsettling process … of identity of (...) meaning and speaking subject’. (shrink)

This paper investigates the literal, metaphorical and ideological implications of ‘hybrid’ texts/genres for criticism in general, and for the workshopping of creative work in particular. The question underlying this investigation concerns the place of poetic discourse in fictocriticism. This is consonant with my understanding of genre as ‘index and mark’ representing ‘the site of the nonsubstitutable positioning of the I and the you and of their modalities of expression’ and of poetic discourse as ‘an unsettling process … of identity of (...) meaning and speaking subject’. (shrink)

lack.” Lacan’s conception of Eros revolves around “a presentification of 1 It is my contention that King Lear invites a theoretical reading of kinship as such “presentification of lack.” Indeed, the dialectic of desire in the text derives from King Lear’s discovering that his own kingly signifier signifies nothing. This error of judgment, which stems from a confusion between desire and jouissance, leads him to misappropriate the rules of bothkingship and kinship. Interestingly enough, it is Cordelia, the daughter andsubject with (...) whom he is erotically involved, who brings home to him thetruth of his error. As an incestuous drama of signification, then, King Learnot only relates to the Phallus as master signifier, but also to the Name-ofthe-Father as referent of the law. Moreover, the truth Cordelia speaks is “a half-said” that leads to the “abolition of discourse”: muteness, madness anddeath. 2 Thus, if the violence implicit in the erotics of the play strikes at “the self-contained character of the participators,” it strikes first at the core of language. 3. (shrink)