Drawing on interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives, this book critically examines intercultural theory and its interrelations with globalisation, education and dialogue in multicultural societies. Applying the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas, the author repositions intercultural communication within a new paradigm that challenges static interpretations of self and other, and suggests future directions for the development of a post-methodological framework based on the decentring of the researcher. This innovative work will provide researchers and language teachers with the critical tools needed to challenge instrumentalist approaches (...) to communication in a diverse global context, characterised by conflict and fear of the other and fresh insights to scholars of education, applied linguistics and sociology. (shrink)

"Ne croyez surtout pas qu'il s'agisse de science-fiction : 18 avril 2015, une équipe de généticiens chinois entreprenait d'"améliorer" le génome de quatre-vingt-trois embryons humains. Jusqu'où ira-t-on dans cette voie? Sera-t-il possible un jour (bientôt? déjà?) d'"augmenter" à volonté tel ou tel trait de caractère de ses enfants, d'éradiquer dans l'embryon les maladies génétiques, voire d'enrayer la vieillesse et la mort en façonnant une nouvelle espèce d'humains "augmentés"? Nous n'en sommes pas (tout à fait) là, mais de nombreux centres de (...) recherche "transhumanistes" y travaillent partout dans le monde, avec des financements colossaux en provenance de géants du Web tel Google. Les progrès des technosciences sont d'une rapidité inimaginable, ils échappent encore à toute régulation. En parallèle, cette "infrastructure du monde" qu'est le Web a permis l'apparition d'une économie dite "collaborative", celle que symbolisent des applications comme Uber, Airbnb ou BlaBlaCar. Selon l'idéologue Jeremy Rifkin, elles annoncent la fin du capitalisme au profit d'un monde de gratuité et de souci de l'autre. N'est-ce pas, tout à l'inverse, vers un hyperlibéralisme, vénal et dérégulateur, que nous nous dirigeons? Certaines perspectives ouvertes par les innovations technoscientifiques sont enthousiasmantes, d'autres effrayantes. Ce livre cherche d'abord à les faire comprendre, et à réhabiliter l'idéal philosophique de la régulation, une notion désormais vitale, tant du côté de la médecine que de l'économie.". (shrink)

This essay draws on comparative ethnographic material from Albania and Italy. It addresses different forms of corruption, arguing that in order to understand the way in which phenomena such as corruption occur and are experienced in any given society, we should contextualize them in the historical and cultural traditions of that specific society. In doing so, however, we should be alert in avoiding falling into the trap of either moral relativism or cultural determinism. The essay suggests that an anthropological analysis (...) of corruption should distinguish between legal rules and social norms. In particular, the empirical study of such norms helps to understand the meanings—both individual and inter-subjective—that actors give to the social and political situation in which they operate. (shrink)

"Par dizaines, des expressions issues de la mythologie grecque se sont inscrites dans le langage courant : une "pomme de discorde", un "dédale de rues", prendre le "taureau par les cornes", toucher le "pactole", "tomber de Charybde en Scylla", suivre un "fil d'Ariane", "jouer les Cassandre", etc. Mille références endormies aux Sirènes, à Typhon, Océan, Triton, Python, Sibylle, Stentor, Mentor, Laïus, Argus, OEdipe et à tant d'autres personnages mythiques habitent encore incognito nos conversations de tous les jours. Je vous propose (...) de les réveiller en racontant les histoires magnifiques qui en sont l'origine. Mais il y a plus. Les grands mythes ne se limitent pas à des "contes et légendes". Ils proposent des leçons de vie et de sagesse d'une profondeur abyssale. La mythologie représente ainsi une tentative grandiose pour apporter des réponses à l'antique question métaphysique de "la vie bonne pour les mortels". Son étude, passionnante en elle-même, constitue pour cette raison une excellente introduction à la philosophie." Luc Ferry. (shrink)

Ces dernières années, la philosophie politique a trouvé un second souffle. Depuis la parution de la Théorie de la justice, au début des années 1970, et sous le double mouvement du déclin des idéologies et de l'écroulement du système communiste, de nouveaux débats sont apparus. Comment combiner le respect des droits individuels et le maintien d'une ambition collective? Comment intégrer au libéralisme politique un projet communautaire? Quelles doivent être les relations entre l'individu, l'Etat et la société? Comment répondre au malaise (...) et au déficit de légitimité que connaissent les démocraties occidentales? Ces interrogations ont permis d'imposer des voix nouvelles - celles de John Rawls ou de Jürgen Habermas -, mais aussi, plus récemment, celles des auteurs dits " communautariens " : Michaël Sandel, Michaël Walzer et Charles Taylor. Ces discussions sont également l'occasion d'en revenir aux fondateurs de la pensée politique contemporaine et de vérifier ainsi l'actualité de la réflexion d'Emmanuel Kant, de Friedrich Hegel, de Karl Marx, d'Alexis de Tocqueville, de John Stuart Mill ou, plus près de nous, de Sigmund Freud et de Max Weber pour penser les problèmes politiques et spirituels de notre temps. Cet ouvrage aimerait donner un aperçu des problématiques actuelles de la théorie politique. Pour la sélection des auteurs étudiés, la question de la liberté a servi de fil conducteur. (shrink)

In Sappho's two-line fragment 115V, an unidentified speaker addresses a lucky bridegroom, wondering how best to describe him; the answer follows immediately:τίῳ σ᾿, ὦ φίλε γάμβρε, καλῶς ἐικάσδω;ὄρπακι βραδίνῳ σε μάλιστ᾿ ἐικάσδω.Dear bridegroom, to what do I best compare you?I compare you most of all to a delicate branch.

Este artículo se dedica al estudio de Afrodita en los poemas del poeta mélico tardo-arcaico Baquílides, específicamente en el Fr.20 B, el Ditirambo 17 y en el Epinicio 5. Se toma como base la representación de la diosa en la mélica griega arcaica, con excepción de Píndaro, a fin de observar semejanzas y diferencias en su diseño en el poeta de Ceos y en el modo en que el erotismo figura en el pequeño corpus considerado, principalmente en el tercer texto (...) indicado. This article turns to the study of Aphrodite in the three melic poems of the late archaic Greek poet Bacchylides, where she is found: Fr. 20B, 17 th Dythiramb and 5 th Epinician ode. The background for the commentary will be the representation of the goddess especially in archaic Greek melic poetry, except for Pindar, and a comparative perspective will be sustained throughout, so that similarities as well as differences may be observed in the Cean poet's drawing of the goddess and in the way eroticism is present in the corpus defined for this paper - mainly in its third song. (shrink)

What is the place of materiality—the expression or condition of physical substance—in our visual age of rapidly changing materials and media? How is it fashioned in the arts or manifested in virtual forms? In Surface, cultural critic and theorist Giuliana Bruno deftly explores these questions, seeking to understand materiality in the contemporary world. Arguing that materiality is not a question of the materials themselves but rather the substance of material relations, Bruno investigates the space of those relations, examining how (...) they appear on the surface of different media—on film and video screens, in gallery installations, or on the skins of buildings and people. The object of visual studies, she contends, goes well beyond the image and engages the surface as a place of contact between people and art objects. As Bruno threads through these surface encounters, she unveils the fabrics of the visual—the textural qualities of works of art, whether manifested on canvas, wall, or screen. Illuminating the modern surface condition, she notes how façades are becoming virtual screens and the art of projection is reinvented on gallery walls. She traverses the light spaces of artists Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Tacita Dean, and Anthony McCall; touches on the textured surfaces of Isaac Julien’s and Wong Kar-wai’s filmic screens; and travels across the surface materiality in the architectural practices of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Herzog & de Meuron to the art of Doris Salcedo and Rachel Whiteread, where the surface tension of media becomes concrete. In performing these critical operations on the surface, she articulates it as a site in which different forms of mediation, memory, and transformation can take place. Surveying object relations across art, architecture, fashion, design, film, and new media, Surface is a magisterial account of contemporary visual culture. (shrink)

What happens when the meaning of life based on a divine revelation no longer makes sense? Does the quest for transcendence end in the pursuit of material success and self-absorption? Luc Ferry argues that modernity and the emergence of secular humanism in Europe since the eighteenth century have not killed the search for meaning and the sacred, or even the idea of God, but rather have transformed both through a dual process: the humanization of the divine and the divinization of (...) the human. Ferry sees evidence for the first of these in the Catholic Church's attempts to counter the growing rejection of dogmatism and to translate the religious tradition into contemporary language. The second he traces to the birth of modern love and humanitarianism, both of which demand a concern for others and even self-sacrifice in defense of values that transcend life itself. Ferry concludes with a powerful statement in favor of what he calls "transcendental humanism"--a concept that for the first time in human history gives us access to a genuine spirituality rooted in human beings instead of the divine. (shrink)

The ‘default mode’ network refers to cortical areas that are active in the absence of goal-directed activity. In previous studies, decreased activity in the ‘default mode’ has always been associated with increased activation in task-relevant areas. We show that the induction of hypnosis can reduce anterior default mode activity during rest without increasing activity in other cortical regions. We assessed brain activation patterns of high and low suggestible people while resting in the fMRI scanner and while engaged in visual tasks, (...) in and out of hypnosis. High suggestible participants in hypnosis showed decreased brain activity in the anterior parts of the default mode circuit. In low suggestible people, hypnotic induction produced no detectable changes in these regions, but instead deactivated areas involved in alertness. The findings indicate that hypnotic induction creates a distinctive and unique pattern of brain activation in highly suggestible subjects. (shrink)

We administered suggestions to see a gray-scale pattern as colored and a colored pattern in shades of gray to 30 high suggestible and eight low suggestible students. The suggestions were administered twice, once following the induction of hypnosis and once without an induction. Besides rating the degree of color they saw in the stimuli differently, participants also rated their states of consciousness as normal, relaxed, hypnotized, or deeply hypnotized. Reports of being hypnotized were limited to highly suggestible participants and only (...) after the hypnotic induction had been administered. Reports of altered color perception were also limited to high suggestibles, but were roughly comparable regardless of whether hypnosis had been induced. These data indicate that suggestible individuals do not slip into a hypnotic state when given imaginative suggestions without the induction of hypnosis, but nevertheless report experiencing difficult suggestions for profound perceptual alterations that are pheonomenologically similar to what they report in hypnosis. (shrink)

The complexity of registered nurses’ work in the intensive care unit places them at risk of experiencing critical incident stress. Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics (1960/2013) was used to expand the meanings of work‐related critical incident stress for registered nurses working with adults in the intensive care unit. Nine intensive care unit registered nurses participated in unstructured interviews. The interpretations emphasized that morally distressing experiences may lead to critical incident stress. Critical incident stress was influenced by the perception of judgment from co‐workers (...) and the organizational culture. Nurses in this study attempted to cope with critical incident stress by functioning in ‘autopilot’, temporarily altering their ability to critically think and to conceal emotions. Participants emphasized the importance of timely crisis interventions tailored to support their needs. This study highlighted that critical incident stress was transformative in how intensive care unit nurses practiced, potentially altering their professional self‐identity. Work‐related critical incident stress has implications for nurses, the discipline, and the health care system. (shrink)

Taking the cue from the translation of Land und Herrschaft by Otto Brunner, the essay explores how his work challenges the historian as well as the translator. Using ideologized concepts as Staat, Land, Herrschaft, Friede, Recht, Brunner gives to these expressions a specific value from the temporal point of view. After the transformation of the social and political concepts between the XVIII and XIX centuries, which made many concepts so temporally determined that they are of little use, Brunner redefines them (...) radically and makes intelligible a language which is otherwise obscure. (shrink)

Background: International developments suggest that providing clinical ethics services to help clinicians negotiate ethical issues that arise in clinical practice is beneficial and reflects best practice in promoting high ethical standards and patient-centered care. The aim of this study was to explore the needs and experiences of clinical staff members to inform the development of future clinical ethics support. Methods: Health professionals at a large regional health service completed an online survey containing questions about the frequency of ethical and legal (...) issues encountered in clinical practice, the type of situations that gave rise to the ethical and/or legal uncertainty or concern, how clinicians currently address these issues, and what support would be welcome. Results: The survey was completed by 369 staff members, including 61% with more than 10 years in the profession and 51% in nursing/midwifery. Two-thirds (66%) indicated they often considered ethical implications of their clinical decisions, and half (49%) often considered the legal implications. More than half (58%) were often/occasionally concerned about the ethically right thing to do. Patient requests for borderline treatment (47%), staff disagreements about patient care (48%), and patients declining recommended treatment (54%) were the most frequent reasons given for ethical or legal uncertainty. Sixty-nine percent of respondents indicated that the way their department addressed ethical issues could be improved and 85% agreed that there is a need for more discussion on ethical issues. The majority (82%) of respondents had encountered ethically challenging clinical situations where additional support would have helped. Common approaches to issues were discussion with colleagues/supervisor (91.1%), discussion at handover/group forums (50.8%), and consultation with guidelines/protocols (60.9%). Conclusions: A majority of clinical staff members surveyed have encountered ethically/legally challenging cases daily for which they have often sought additional advice. This study indicates that many clinical staff members would welcome some form of additional clinical ethics support including advice and education. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Does genetic relatedness define who is a mother or father and who incurs obligations towards or entitlements over children? While once the answer to this question may have been obvious, advances in reproductive technologies have complicated our understanding of what makes a parent. In a recent publication Bayne and Kolers argue for a pluralistic account of parenthood on the basis that genetic derivation, gestation, extended custody and sometimes intention to parent are sufficient (but not necessary) grounds for parenthood.1 Bayne (...) and Kolers further suggest that definitions of parenthood are underpinned by the assumption that ‘being causally implicated in the creation of a child is the key basis for being its parent’.2 This paper examines the claim that genetic relatedness is sufficient grounds for parenthood based on a causal connection between genetic parents and their offspring. I argue that parental obligations are about moral responsibility and not causal responsibility because we are not morally accountable for every consequence to which we causally contribute. My account includes the conditions generally held to apply to moral responsibility, i.e. freedom and foreseeability. I argue that parental responsibilities are generated whenever the birth of a child is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of voluntary actions. I consider the implications of this account for third parties involved in reproductive technologies. I argue that under some conditions the obligations generated by freely and foreseeably causing a child to exist can be justifiably transferred to others. (shrink)

Quand on a renoncé à démontrer l'existence de Dieu ou l'immortalité de l'âme, est-il encore rationnel de postuler que Dieu existe ou que l'âme est immortelle? Peut-on croire rationnellement dans l'incertitude la plus totale? Jean-Marc Ferry montre précisément en quoi la religion réflexive le permet. Celui qui s'y engage ne se prévaut d'aucun accès privilégié à la vérité. Au départ, cet engagement procède moins d'une croyance que d'une résolution. Il s'agit, en effet, d'un acte de pure liberté, dépourvu d'assise, acte (...) risqué qui fait que l'on accorde ou non sa confiance au réel. Ensuite seulement, entre l'athée et le croyant, les expériences pourront être confrontées ; et c'est quand l'un et l'autre assument pleinement leur absolue ignorance métaphysique que raison et religion peuvent enfin être conciliées. (shrink)

This article argues that two distinctive varieties of antifascism took shape in the 1930s and endured through the late 1970s. These two varieties—Popular Front antifascism and anti-imperial antifascism—were in dialogue but in opposition to one another, and both were transnational mobilizing ideologies. Investigating these two antifascist movements allows us to place Europe in the wider world and demonstrate how anti-imperial activists of color simultaneously “provincialized” Europe and situated it within a global framework. The effort also highlights the need to rethink (...) the history of the European Left through the framework of antifascism. (shrink)

Narration ou argumentation? Une nouvelle polarité philosophique se dessine ainsi, chargée d'enjeux relatifs à la question de l'éthique. Par la mise en récit des expériences, la narration confère à l'identité personnelle un ancrage et une épaisseur historiques, orientant l'éthique vers un idéal substantiel de vie bonne. Par la justification rationnelle des réclamations, l'argumentation engage la responsabilité des sujets de droit, infléchissant l'éthique vers une idée procédurale de la société juste. Mais comment articuler la visée substantielle à la voie procédurale? Comment (...) assurer, sur la voie du discours, le principe de reconnaissance? Dans cette entreprise, l'éthique de la reconstruction revêt une signification décisive. C'est à introduire ce concept original que sont consacrées ces réflexions. L'auteur suit en cela une exhortation de Paul Ricoeur à qui cet essai est dédié. (shrink)

For political and literary theorists working on race, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is a canonical text. Most political theorists approach the novel through what this essay calls a “martyr reading,” though martyrdom is just one of several political strategies explored in the work. This essay highlights an alternative in Ellison’s repertoire. The “trickster reading” developed here better accounts for several key scenes in the novel and also shows the limits of martyrdom as a technique of democratic politics. While other democratic (...) theorists have identified Ellison with redemptive or deliberative aims, the novel’s references to Homer’s Odyssey, with its own trickster-hero, license a trickster reading of Invisible Man. Tricksters do not take on suffering, loss, or sacrifice in the hope of redemption nor are they necessarily committed to the virtues of deliberation. Instead, they evade sacrifice by resorting routinely to irony, cunning, and refusal. This reading demonstrates the importance of these techniques to Ellison’s vision and to our politics today. (shrink)

From the timeless wisdom of ancient Greece through to Christianity, the Enlightenment, existentialism and postmodernism, A Brief History of Thought brilliantly and accessibly explains the enduring teachings of philosophy - including its profound relevance in today's world as well as its essential role in achieving happiness and living a meaningful life. This lively journey through the great thinkers challenges every one of us to learn to think for ourselves and asks us the most important question of all: how can we (...) live better? (shrink)

One of the many faces of Islam in Indonesia is the abangan Muslims or the abangans. As one of the most populous Muslim groups in the country, it is important to know them. To understand Indonesian Islam or Muslims, one cannot overlook them. The article argues that, amid recent escalating Muslim–Christian tension in the country, this majority Muslim group can play a significant role in enhancing Muslim–Christian relations in the future, on account of their worldview that emphasizes and maintains cosmic (...) harmony and balance of all existence. Their open and syncretic attitudes toward other religions may foster religious tolerance and coexistence. These are attested in the author’s personal engagement with them. It is suggested that Christians be more inclusive toward them, but, at the same time, be critical in engaging their worldview. These attitudes are necessary for building a mutual and peaceful Muslim–Christian relationship in the region. (shrink)

In three experiments, we found that after a subtle suggestion, subjects falsely recognized words from their own dreams and thought they had been presented during the waking state. The procedure used in these studies involved three phases. Subjects studied a list of words on Day 1. On Day 2, they received a false suggestion that some words from their previously reported dreams had been presented on the list. On Day 3, they tried to recall only what had occurred on the (...) initial list. Subjects falsely recognized their dream words at a very high rate—sometimes as often as they accurately recognized true words. They reported that they genuinely “remembered” the dream words, as opposed to simply “knowing” that they had been previously presented. These findings, which suggest that dreams can sometimes be mistaken for reality, have significant implications for the practice of psychotherapy. (shrink)

Indonesia is recognized as a nurse exporting country, with policies that encourage nursing professionals to emigrate abroad. This includes the country’s adoption of international principles attempting to protect Indonesian nurses that emigrate as well as the country’s own participation in a bilateral trade and investment agreement, known as the Indonesia–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement that facilitates Indonesian nurse migration to Japan. Despite the potential trade and employment benefits from sending nurses abroad under the Indonesia–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, Indonesia itself is suffering (...) from a crisis in nursing capacity and ensuring adequate healthcare access for its own populations. This represents a distinct challenge for Indonesia in appropriately balancing domestic health workforce needs, employment, and training opportunities for Indonesian nurses, and the need to acknowledge the rights of nurses to freely migrate abroad. Hence, this article reviews the complex operational and ethical issues associated with Indonesian health worker migration under the Indonesia–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. It also introduces a policy proposal to improve performance of the Indonesia–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and better align it with international principles focused on equitable health worker migration. (shrink)

The very clever studies reviewed by Smith et al. convincingly demonstrate metacognitive skills in animals. However, interpreting the findings on metacognitive monitoring as showing conscious cognitive processes in animals is not warranted, because some metacognitive monitoring observed in humans appear to be automatic rather than controlled.

As reported by Vertes & Eastman, convincing evidence rules out any role for REM sleep in memory consolidation. However, they do not provide convincing evidence for their claim that sleep in generaI – as opposed to REM sleep per se – has no influence on memory consolidation. Recent correlational data suggest that the number of NREM/REM cycles is associated with performance on a verbal recall task. [Vertes & Eastman].

This commentary deals with criteria for assigning truth values to memory contents. A parallel with perception shows how truth values can be assigned by considering subjects' beliefs about the truth state of the memory content. This topic is also relevant to the study of processes of control over retrieval.