La notion de kairos, entendue au sens de « moment opportun », liée à celle de metron — notion dont l'auteur a déjà montré l'importance dans la littérature grecque antique dans son ensemble - intervient de mille manières dans les écrits d'Aristote sur les sciences de la nature. Elle y apparaît sous la forme des catégories temporelles pas-encore ou trop-tôt, et jamais-plus, ou trop-tard. A preuve, différents textes tirés des Météorologiques, de la Génération des animaux, des Parties des animaux et (...) même de la Politique. De ce point de vue, Aristote peut être considéré comme un précurseur de la science moderne. The notion of kairos, understood in its meaning of « opportune moment », combined to that of metron — a notion whose the Author has already shown the importance in ancient Greek literature as a whole -is present in numerous ways in Aristotle's works on the sciences of nature, where it appears under the form of the temporal categories of not yet or too early, and never again or too late. This is confirmed by various selected texts from the Aristotelian works Meteorológica, On the Generation of Animals, On the Parts of Animals and even from the Politics. From this point of view Aristotle may be considered as a forerunner of modern science. (shrink)

t. 1. Historia tēs philosophias, Hellas.

It seems at least daring to speak of truth on the subject of art, when Plato, in the Sophiste, 234c, likens art to sophistry, in other words, to falsity and deformation. To be sure, this comparison is based on an exaggeration, because elsewhere Plato insists on the necessity of artistic reality: in the same Sophiste, 299e, he states that “life would be unlivable without art.” The importance thus given to art becomes obvious when we think that this same expression is (...) already used in the Apologie, 38a, with regard to philosophy, the activity that for a man conscious of his own existence is one of scrupulously examining his own life. This similarity in expression testifies to the conceptual and axiological similarity of two (but distinct) activities of the mind effected by Plato who, on a different level, as we have just seen, unhesitatingly condemns one of them, at least apparently; apparently, because basically Plato does not inveigh against art in general but against the art of his contemporaries, whom he openly accuses of accepting the postulate of verisimilitude by using artifice and acrobatics, with the sole end of pleasing the crowds by flattery. In other words, they substitute for the scarch for authenticity that of dexterity in creations conceived only for that effect, which means identifying this type of substitution of values with a prostitution of the artist himself with regard to his public. (shrink)

Dans le Phédon, Platon déclare que la philosophie est la musique suprême. C’est donc qu’à ses yeux l’art des sons possède des affinités avec la dialectique. De même, dans le Phèdre, le musicien est rapproché du philosophe, compte tenu de la ressemblance de leurs âmes, ce qui renforce l’hypothèse a priori que Platon conçoit des liens entre ces deux disciplines. Enfin, dans le neuvième livre de la République, il est questions des efforts continus de l’homme raisonnable pour maintenir en lui (...) une sorte d’harmonie. Il faut donc définir les rapports de la musique et de la philosophie selon Platon. La musique et l’harmonique comme disciplines préparant à la dialectique ne sont-elles considérées comme telles qu’en théorie? Ou bien cette conception est-elle fondée sur des faits réels? (shrink)

We have identified a sample of 53 societies outside of the classical Himalayan and Marquesean area that permit polyandrous unions. Our goal is to broadly describe the demographic, social, marital, and economic characteristics of these societies and to evaluate some hypotheses of the causes of polyandry. We demonstrate that although polyandry is rare it is not as rare as commonly believed, is found worldwide, and is most common in egalitarian societies. We also argue that polyandry likely existed during early human (...) history and should be examined from an evolutionary perspective. Our analysis reveals that it may be a predictable response to a high operational sex ratio favoring males and may also be a response to high rates of male mortality and, possibly, male absenteeism. Other factors may contribute, but our within-polyandry sample limits analysis. (shrink)

Big Ideas for Little Kids includes everything a teacher, a parent, or a college student needs to teach philosophy to elementary school children from picture books. Written in a clear and accessible style, the book explains why it is important to allow young children access to philosophy during primary-school education. Wartenberg also gives advice on how to construct a "learner-centered" classroom, in which children discuss philosophical issues with one another as they respond to open-ended questions by saying whether they agree (...) or disagree with what others have said. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to explore how nurses perceive patient participations of patients over 75 years old undergoing hemodialysis treatment in dialysis units, and of their next of kin. Ten nurses told stories about what happened in the dialysis units. These stories were analyzed with critical discourse analysis. Three discursive practices are found: (1) the nurses’ power and control; (2) sharing power with the patient; and (3) transferring power to the next of kin. The first and the predominant (...) discursive practice can be explained with an ideology of paternalism, in which the nurses used biomedical explanations and the ethical principle of benefice to justify their actions. The second can be explained with an ideology of participation, in which the nurses used ethical narratives as a way to let the patients participate in the treatment. The third seemed to involve autonomous decision-making and the ethical principle of autonomy for the next of kin in the difficult end-of-life decisions. (shrink)

This article explores how Plato, in his “metaphysical” dialogues, sees the specific properties of motion (and especially of motion in music), which lend themselves to adaptation for the purposes of maintaining or restoring the health of the soul. Plato explores the property of regular or rhythmic motion in particular. The attention has been drawn to the analogy between the calming effect of music, at the human level, and the Demiurge’s achievement in willing the world into existence. The focus of the (...) article lays on the Laws, in which the principle of musical motion plays a central role in resolution of the contradictions between material and spiritual, natural and physiological, medical and educative. (shrink)