Le discours managérial constitue un véritable genre et représente une catégorie particulière au sein des énoncés performatifs. L’objectif annoncé de présentation des orientations stratégiques et de dynamisation des équipes s’accompagne d’une mise en scène particulière qui constitue une des conditions de sa félicité, de son accomplissement. Le contexte d’internationalisation et d’interdépendance dans lequel se déroule l’activité des entreprises renforce la stéréotypie de ce langage qui mobilise un format, un vocabulaire et une syntaxe particulière marqués par l’anglicisme et l’asyncticité. Destiné à (...) unifier et à galvaniser les équipes, ce langage est porteur de signes de pouvoir et de distinction, il exclut plus qu’il n’inclut, génère la perplexité et le désarroi et s’inscrit dans une stratégie du flou qui semble être le seul mode contemporain de l’avenir économique. Circulant à l’envi dans la communauté internationale et de la finance qu’il unifie à sa manière, il a une force incantatoire sur la scène financière et médiatique mais un impact paradoxal sur le travail quotidien des hommes et des femmes. Langage de la spéculation et de l’anticipation, il est plus proche des discours de la performance que des énoncés performatifs.Managerial language is a genre in itself and makes up a particular category of performative speech. The stated objective when presenting strategic goals or team building strategies is always dressed up in a particular way that will determine its aptness and success. The context of internationalisation and interdependence in which business activities take place reinforces a stereotype of management-speak, based on a particular format, vocabulary and grammar permeated by anglicisms and lack of syntax. Aimed at unifying and galvanising business teams, « corpu-speak » conveys a sense of power and distinctiveness, suggests exclusiveness rather than inclusiveness, generates bewilderment and anxiety and is very much at one with the strategy of obfuscation that seems to be the sole contemporary register where the economic future is concerned. Circulating freely within the international and finance community and uniting it as it goes, it acts with the hypnotic effect of incantation on the financial and media scene but has a paradoxical impact on the daily working lives of men and women. As the language of speculation and anticipation, it is more akin to performance discourse than to performative speech. (shrink)

Et derrière cette dernière se dessine le rôle des managers, premiers acteurs de ces dynamiques de changement, pour avoir intériorisé les principes de la rationalisation. Premiers acteurs ? Seuls acteurs ?

L'article explicite un certain nombre de principes de nature à rendre possible une connaissance à la fois critique et positive de la communication d'entreprise. Il souligne la nécessité de rompre tant avec les modèles sociologiques et économiques usuels qu'avec les lieux communs et les discours d'acteurs qui ne visent souvent que leur propre promotion. Il invite ainsi à renouer avec des démarches socio-économiques qui permettent de comprendre à quelles nécessités a pu correspondre le développement de la communication, à (...) quelle visée pratique répond son déploiement organisationnel, et à quels jeux stratégiques associant salariés et employeurs elle donne lieu.Article explicit a number of principles to make possible a knowledge of both critical and positive communication business. He stressed the need to break with both sociological and economic models with the usual platitudes and speeches of actors who are often their own promotion. It invites to revive socio-economic approaches to understanding what needs to match has been the development of communication, which referred practical deployment meets organizational and what strategic games involving employees and employers it gives rise. (shrink)

Le Canada a engendré deux tendances opposées dans la pratique et l'étude de la communication. D'une part, la pensée structuraliste et déterministe de Marshall Mc Luhan à Toronto pour qui la technique est une forme organisationnelle de la communication entre les hommes. D'autre part, la communication sociale, véritable laboratoire des médias, qui naquit pendant la Révolution tranquille des années 1960 et s'articula autour du Vidéographe de Montréal.Canada has spawned two opposing trends in the practice and study (...) of communication. On the one hand, the structuralist thought and deterministic Marshall McLuhan in Toronto that the technique is an organizational form of communication between people. On the other hand, social communication, real media lab, who was born during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s and revolved around Videographer Montreal. (shrink)

Hoy asistimos a un inédito desafío histórico y cultural: la imparable y acrítica expansión de las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (TIC), en tanto estas amplían nuestras capacidades mentales y comunicativas a límites aún insospechados. Ante la radicalidad de su impacto, el desafío es empezar a vivir las TIC de una forma responsable, creativa y crítica. Hasta ahora, en cambio, las hemos vivido deslumbrados ante sus luces y ciegos ante sus sombras. En el ensayo nos preguntamos tanto “¿qué (...) hace una nueva tecnología?” como “¿qué también deshace?”. Buscamos entonces mediante una aproximación preliminar contribuir al debate acerca de los impactos existenciales, cognitivos, comunicativos y sociales de las TIC. (shrink)

Dans un environnement organisationnel instable et concurrentiel, l'usage des outils de groupware serait tributaire de la convergence entre, d'une part, les formes de communication permises par ces outils et, d'autre part, les stratégies relationnelles mises en oeuvre pour développer la confiance entre les acteurs. Les pratiques de collaboration qui font appel aux technologies informatiques de travail en groupe dépendraient alors de cette logique d'usage. Une recherche empirique, réalisée dans des entreprises et des centres de recherche de la Silicon Valley, (...) conforte ces hypothèses.In a changing and competitive organizational environment, the use of groupware tools seems to rely on the convergence of the communication allowed by these tools and the relational strategies necessary to develop trust. Consequently, computer supported collaborative practices would depend on this logic of use. Empirical research realised in firms and in research centres in Silicon Valley tends to confirm these hypotheses. (shrink)

Nous chercherons ici à montrer comment le projet Tela Botanica permet à la fois une transformation et une actualisation du savoir botanique. Trois éléments particuliers retiendront notre attention : la libre circulation et la mise à disposition des données les plus récentes du travail des botanistes ; l’articulation nouvelle entre le travail scientifique des amateurs et celui des professionnels ; la création d’une forme organisationnelle hybride combinant des éléments propres au milieu associatif et à l’entreprise privée. Nous utiliserons ces (...) trois axes d’analyse tour à tour, en fournissant des exemples et des réflexions théoriques pour chacun.This article illustrates how the Tela Botanica project is simultaneously transforming botanical knowledge and breathing new life into the field of botany. We discuss three characteristics in particular: the ready availability and free circulation of the most up-to-date botanical data, new links between the scientific work of amateur and professional botanists and the appearance of a hybrid organisational form that combines features from the non-profit model and from private enterprise. We examine these three characteristics in turn, with examples and theoretical discussions in each case. (shrink)

Le rôle du facteur temps et la question des temporalités constituent un analyseur particulièrement pertinent de la courte guerre franco-allemande de 1939-1940. La rapide défaite française s’explique en effet principalement par la discordance et la dissonance des temporalités à l’œuvre. L’opposition de doctrines et de stratégies militaires au regard de la dimension temporelle trouve son origine dans l’expérience commune et partagée de la Grande Guerre comme longue « guerre d’usure » dont il faut éviter la répétition. Mais les enseignements tirés (...) l’ont été dans des sens radicalement différents. Cette explication doit cependant être complétée par le jeu de facteurs de nature différente, d’ordre organisationnel voire contingent, mais qui ont eu néanmoins des effets d’amplification sur les temporalités de la conduite des opérations. (shrink)

L’article étudie les structures inter-organisationnelles en réseau par un prisme religieux, se distinguant ainsi des approches traditionnelles de type sociologique, économique ou managériale. Les auteurs discutent la possibilité de rapprocher le management de la religion à travers quatre de ses caractéristiques : la Loi, la Voie, la Communauté et l’Expérience. Une application est proposée au contexte des pratiques réticulaires à partir des composantes Hétérogénéité, Partenariat, Autonomie et Cohésion. Il en résulte une grille de lecture programmatique sur la compréhension et le (...) management des structures en réseau.This paper studies the inter-organisational network structures with a religious prism, as distinct from traditional sociological, economic or managerial approaches. The authors discuss the possibility of combining management and religion through four characteristics: the Law, the Way, the Community and the Experience. An application is proposed to the context of network practices from Heterogeneity, Partnership, Autonomy and Cohesion components. The result is finally a programmatic framework about the understanding and the management of network structures. (shrink)

Cet article est un récit analytique basé sur des témoignages primaires concernant le Mouvement des Académies Solidaires qui a émergé à la suite des purges des Académiciens de la Paix en Turquie. Il examine le Mouvement sous l’angle de la signification et de la possibilité d’une subjectivité académique révolutionnaire, montre son originalité académique et organisationnelle, et analyse son déclin face aux problèmes auxquels il est confronté. Les Académies Solidaires, en tant qu’initiatives radicales qui transcendent la légalité existante, ont créé (...) des environnements de connaissance et d’apprentissage en commun, mais elles ont régressé parce qu’elles n’ont pas pu transformer cette expérience en un projet capable de résoudre les problèmes d’organisation interne et de relation avec l’environnement social. (shrink)

Les auteurs analysent les relations entre innovation organisationnelle et innovation technique. L'histoire récente des sciences et techniques a mis en évidence certaines situations de renforcement d'innovations techniques par une restructuration d'arrangements organisationnels. Ainsi, l'invention au XIX siècle, du laboratoire de recherche industrielle a constitué une configuration organisationnelle favorisant l'innovation en rassemblant dans un même espace concepteurs, machinistes et dessinateurs dont la seule tâche est de produire des innovations. Par contraste, et en s'appuyant sur un travail ethnographique récent, les (...) auteurs présentent ensuite la configuration organisationnelle proposée aujourd'hui par un collectif québécois de militants du logiciel libre: la communauté innovante. Celle-ci s'appuie sur les compétences individuelles de ses membres, mais aussi sur un accès public aux savoirs techniques, favorisé par l'usage des réseaux. Trois dimensions clés caractérisent cette communauté. Les productions innovantes sont réalisées dans un environnement libre ; elles adviennent dans un contexte situé; elles ne sont reconnues comme « contributions » que dans la mesure où elles font l'objet d'une négociation par les pairs.The authors analyze the relationship between organizational innovation and technical innovation. The recent history of science and technology has highlighted some situations reinforcement of technical innovations by restructuring organizational arrangements. Thus, the invention in the nineteenth century, the industrial research laboratory has established an organizational configuration fostering innovation by bringing together in one space designers, machinists and designers whose sole task is to produce innovations. In contrast, and based on recent ethnographic work, the authors then present the organizational configuration proposed today by a group of activists Quebec free software community innovative. It relies on the individual skills of its members, but also public access to technical knowledge, encouraged by the use of networks. Three key dimensions characterize this community. Innovative productions are performed in a free befall them in a situated context, they are recognized as "contributions" to the extent that they are negotiated by peers. (shrink)

This article reflects on the skills required in trades services to people dedicated to coordinate services in complex clinical situations because of their multidimensionality and chronicity. All human activity requires for its proper effectuation, the coordination of interdependencies between actors. Coordination of interdependencies is done in ordinary mode, in everyday activities, but also in dedicated mode, that is to say, through a practice that has a primary mandate to manage them in a conscious, voluntary and accountable for intervention situations whose (...) complexity is high. This passage from the ordinary form in the form of dedicated coordination undertakes a transformation of skills and professional knowledge mobilized in the professional gesture. Further skills and knowledge relating to the disciplinary control of clinical objects, the case manager or professional figure who best embodies this form of coordination, should mobilize expertise and procedural knowledge (assessment, planning, communication, negotiation, activation networks, etc..) required to control the interfaces between technical systems and professional and organizational actors, posing as the interdependence of actants primary purpose in work. For this he must do it in a time of temporality combining organizational project in clinical time. e présent article réfléchit aux compétences requises dans les métiers de services aux personnes dédiés à coordonner les services dans les situations cliniques complexes en raison de leur multi-dimensionnalité et leur chronicité. Toute activité humaine exige, pour sa bonne effectuation, la coordination des interdépendances entre les acteurs concernés. La coordination des interdépendances se réalise en mode ordinaire, dans les activités de tous les jours, mais aussi en mode dédié, c’est-à-dire à travers une pratique qui a pour mandat principal de les gérer de manière consciente, volontaire et imputable pour les situations d’intervention dont la complexité est grande. Ce passage de la forme ordinaire à la forme dédiée de coordination engage une transformation des compétences et savoirs professionnels mobilisés dans le geste professionnel. En outre des compétences et savoirs relatifs à la maîtrise des objets cliniques disciplinaires, le gestionnaire de cas, soit la figure professionnelle qui incarne le mieux cette modalité de coordination, doit mobiliser des compétences et savoirs procéduraux (évaluation, planification, communication, négociation, activation de réseaux, etc.) requis à la maîtrise des interfaces entre systèmes techniques et acteurs professionnels et organisationnels, en posant l’interdépendance des actants comme objet premier de son action professionnelle. Pour cela, il doit effectuer cette dernière dans une temporalité conjuguant le temps du projet organisationnel au temps clinique. (shrink)

This article reflects on the skills required in trades services to people dedicated to coordinate services in complex clinical situations because of their multidimensionality and chronicity. All human activity requires for its proper effectuation, the coordination of interdependencies between actors. Coordination of interdependencies is done in ordinary mode, in everyday activities, but also in dedicated mode, that is to say, through a practice that has a primary mandate to manage them in a conscious, voluntary and accountable for intervention situations whose (...) complexity is high. This passage from the ordinary form in the form of dedicated coordination undertakes a transformation of skills and professional knowledge mobilized in the professional gesture. Further skills and knowledge relating to the disciplinary control of clinical objects, the case manager or professional figure who best embodies this form of coordination, should mobilize expertise and procedural knowledge (assessment, planning, communication, negotiation, activation networks, etc..) required to control the interfaces between technical systems and professional and organizational actors, posing as the interdependence of actants primary purpose in work. For this he must do it in a time of temporality combining organizational project in clinical time. Le présent article réfléchit aux compétences requises dans les métiers de services aux personnes dédiés à coordonner les services dans les situations cliniques complexes en raison de leur multi-dimensionnalité et leur chronicité. Toute activité humaine exige, pour sa bonne effectuation, la coordination des interdépendances entre les acteurs concernés. La coordination des interdépendances se réalise en mode ordinaire, dans les activités de tous les jours, mais aussi en mode dédié, c’est-à-dire à travers une pratique qui a pour mandat principal de les gérer de manière consciente, volontaire et imputable pour les situations d’intervention dont la complexité est grande. Ce passage de la forme ordinaire à la forme dédiée de coordination engage une transformation des compétences et savoirs professionnels mobilisés dans le geste professionnel. En outre des compétences et savoirs relatifs à la maîtrise des objets cliniques disciplinaires, le gestionnaire de cas, soit la figure professionnelle qui incarne le mieux cette modalité de coordination, doit mobiliser des compétences et savoirs procéduraux (évaluation, planification, communication, négociation, activation de réseaux, etc.) requis à la maîtrise des interfaces entre systèmes techniques et acteurs professionnels et organisationnels, en posant l’interdépendance des actants comme objet premier de son action professionnelle. Pour cela, il doit effectuer cette dernière dans une temporalité conjuguant le temps du projet organisationnel au temps clinique. (shrink)

Le transport aérien du courrier, en d'autres termes la poste aérienne, est moins une innovation technique qu'organisationnelle. Avec elle, il ne s'agit pas, seulement, de faire voler des avions, mais de les insérer dans un système complexe de collecte, de transport et de distribution de courrier à travers des territoires. L'exploit du vol en lui-même ne suffit pas, il doit aussi être régulier et sûr, et en somme s'articuler au mieux au reste de la chaîne postale pour satisfaire les (...) usagers. Seule une coopération, au sens strict une opération en commun du réseau par les acteurs concernés, le permet: les offices postaux d'une part et les compagnies aériennes d'autre part ont à travailler en étroite relation, et donc à communiquer. Dans les années 1920, la genèse de la poste aérienne se fait à travers la construction d'un espace de sens commun, mêlant institutions et signes. Une infrastructure de papier finit par porter les avions.Air transportation of mail, in other words airmail is less a technical innovation organizational. With it, it is not only to fly planes, but inserting them into a complex system of collection, transport and delivery of mail across territories. The feat of flying itself is not enough, it must also be smooth and safe, and in fact is the best articulate the rest of the mail stream to satisfy users. Only cooperation in the strict sense a joint operation of the network by stakeholders, allows: post offices on the one hand and the other airlines have to work closely, and thus communicate. In the 1920s, the genesis of airmail is done through the construction of a space of common sense, combining institutions and signs. Infrastructure eventually wear paper airplanes. (shrink)

Les controverses impliquant entreprises et communautés locales autour de grands projets de développement défraient l’actualité. Dans le contexte actuel de multiplication des controverses socio-économico-environnementales et de demande grandissante d’implication de la société civile dans la prise de décision liée aux projets dits de développement, le concept d’acceptabilité sociale s’impose comme un défi de gestion dans le microsome des promoteurs de projets majeurs, des décideurs publics et dans la sphère médiatique. Ces enjeux – qui introduisent de nouvelles formes d’incertitudes managériales et (...) sociotechniques – donnent lieu à de nouveaux défis théoriques pour la recherche en management. Ainsi, notre étude suggère d’ancrer l’acceptabilité sociale dans les développements récents du socioconstructivisme, offrant une nouvelle conceptualisation de ce concept sur la base de la production interactive d’ordres négociés. Ce faisant, notre cadre conceptuel permet une meilleure compréhension du processus par lequel les entreprises et les parties prenantes locales négocient leurs champs d’actions, et du processus par lequel les entreprises parviennent à développer et à cultiver l’acceptabilité sociale de leurs projets en développant et en maintenant des formes organisationnelles hybrides favorisant la cohabitation de plusieurs logiques d’action. (shrink)

Le monde muséal a considérablement évolué ces dernières années ; des notions telles que le développement touristique et économique, ou la performance, ont largement pris le pas sur les préoccupations sociales, voire sur la conservation du patrimoine. Dans une logique mondialisée, quelques grands « musées superstars », à l’instar du musée Guggenheim de Bilbao, imposent largement leur logique de fonctionnement, au détriment de nombre d’établissements de taille plus modeste. Le rôle particulier de l’État, en France, contribue au développement d’une infrastructure (...) muséale exceptionnelle, partiellement pour maintenir sa position dominante au niveau des flux de migration touristique. Mais ce renouveau patrimonial induit également un changement de culture sur le plan organisationnel. Des personnels purement administratifs remplacent les personnels scientifiques à la tête des établissements. L’autorité publique et l’intérêt économique encourent le risque de prendre le dessus sur l’intérêt scientifique et patrimonial.The world of museums has changed considerably in recent years, with concerns for tourist and economic development, or performance, largely overshadowing social and even heritage conservation concerns. Following the logic of globalisation, a few “superstar museums”, like the Guggenheim in Bilbao, have been imposing their own modus operandi to the overall detriment of more modest establishments. The particular role of the State, in France, has contributed to the development of an outstanding museum infrastructure, in part to sustain a dominant position in terms of incoming tourist flows. However, this new perspective on heritage has also brought a change in the culture of museum organisation. As scientific staff are replaced by purely administrative staff at management level, the interests of the public authorities and the economy are increasingly liable to outweigh the interests of science and heritage. (shrink)

Cet article met en perspective sociologique la croissance de l’utilisation des réseaux socionumériques et propose une approche néo-structurale pour l’analyse des profils des utilisateurs. Il insiste notamment sur les comparaisons sociales et les jeux de statut comme l’une des dimensions de la rationalisation contemporaine de la gestion des interdépendances dans ces réseaux socionumériques. Cette rationalisation est mise en relation avec la flexibilisation des marchés du travail et l’affaiblissement des solidarités universalistes. L’analyse sociologique des réseaux met en évidence le travail relationnel (...) et symbolique des acteurs qui cherchent à gérer ainsi leur capital relationnel, une rationalité sociale qui les guide, les rouages relationnels d’une discipline sociale complexe qui leur permet de se coordonner, qu’ils considèrent comme légitime et qui constitue aussi une composante du capital social du collectif. On suggère enfin que les avancées de la recherche sur les réseaux sociaux et organisationnels peuvent être mises à profit pour identifier les formes de discipline sociale qui émergent de ces nouvelles pratiques de construction d’une présence en ligne.This article brings a sociological perspective to bear on the increasing use of social networking sites and offers a neo-structural approach to analyses of user profiles. It lays particular emphasis on social comparison and the “status game” as one of the dimensions of contemporary rationalisation in the management of interdependencies in social networking sites. This rationalisation is added to increasing labour market flexibility and weakening universalist solidarity. Sociological analysis of these networks brings out the relational and symbolic work accomplished by those involved, as they seek to manage their relational capital. The social rationality that guides them enables them to cross-coordinate and the relational workings of a complex social discipline, which they see as legitimate and is also a component of the collective social capital. We suggest, finally, that advances in research on social and organisational networks could help to identify forms of social discipline that are emerging from the new practice of constructing on-line presence. (shrink)

A discussion of Frege's views concerning the meaning of 'I' and his distinction between the 'I' of soliloquy and the 'I' of conversation.

Both patients and clinicians frequently report problems around communicating and assessing pain. Patients express dissatisfaction with their doctors and doctors often find exchanges with chronic pain patients difficult and frustrating. This chapter thus asks how we could improve pain communication and thereby enhance outcomes for chronic pain patients. We argue that improving matters will require a better appreciation of the complex meaning of pain terms and of the variability and flexibility in how individuals think about pain. We start by (...) examining the various accounts of the meaning of pain terms that have been suggested within philosophy and suggest that, while each of the accounts captures something important about our use of pain terms, none is completely satisfactory. We propose that pain terms should be viewed as communicating complex meanings, which may change across different communicative contexts, and this in turn suggests that we should view our ordinary thought about pain as similarly complex. We then sketch what a view taking seriously this variability in meaning and thought might look like, which we call the “polyeidic” view. According to this view, individuals tacitly occupy divergent stances across a range of different dimensions of pain, with one agent, for instance, thinking of pain in a much more “bodycentric” kind of way, while another thinks of pain in a much more "mindcentric” way. The polyeidic view attempts to expand the multidimensionality recognised in, e.g., biopsychosocial models in two directions: first, it holds that the standard triumvirate— dividing sensory/cognitive/affective factors— needs to be enriched in order to capture important distinctions within the social and psychological dimensions. Second, the polyeidic view attempts to explain (at least in part) why modulation of experience by these social and psychological factors is possible in the first place. It does so by arguing that because the folk concept of pain is complex, different weightings of the different parts of the concept can modulate pain experience in a variety of ways. Finally, we argue that adopting a polyeidic approach to the meaning of pain would have a range of measurable clinical outcomes. (shrink)

Numerous societal issues, from climate change to pandemics, require public engagement with scientific research. Such engagement reveals challenges that can arise when experts communicate with laypeople. One of the most common frameworks for framing these communicative interactions is the deficit model of science communication, which holds that laypeople lack scientific knowledge and/or positive attitudes towards science, and that imparting knowledge will fill knowledge gaps, lead to desirable attitude/behavior changes, and increase trust in science. §1 introduces the deficit model in (...) more detail and shows that adhering to this model often fails to achieve its aims, which motivates the main question of this chapter: how can Ludwik Fleck’s theory of thinking collectives address the persistent problem of deficit approaches in science communication? I suggest that it can do so by exposing the deficit model’s implicit assumption of an expert-lay divide. Accordingly, §2 lays out Fleck’s theory and §3 contrasts it with contemporary debates about science communication. Following this descriptive work, §4 draws on Fleck’s ideas to make four concrete suggestions for further questioning the expert-lay divide. (shrink)

Misconceived Consent: Miguel has stage IV lung cancer. He has nearly exhausted his treatment options when his oncologist, Dr. Llewellyn, tells him about an experimental vaccine trial that may boost his immune response to kill cancer cells. Dr. Llewellyn provides Miguel with a consent form that explains why the study is being conducted, what procedures he will undergo, what the various risks and benefits are, alternative sources of treatment, and so forth. She even sits down with him, carefully talks through (...) the most important points, and gives him time to ask questions. Though it is a Phase 1 study and the chance that he will benefit is very low, Miguel happily agrees to take part. A week later, after the first experimental injection, she asks him if he is worried about the risks. “Risks?” he asks. “I’m sure this is safe—you’re a doctor, after all!”. (shrink)

This volume provides a comprehensive account of Wilhelm Röpke as a liberal political economist and social philosopher. Wilhelm Röpke was a key protagonist of transatlantic neoliberalism, a prominent public intellectual and a gifted international networker. As an original thinker, he always positioned himself at the interface between political economy and social philosophy, as well as between liberalism and conservatism. Röpke’s endeavors to combine these elements into a coherent whole, as well as his embeddedness in European and American intellectual networks of (...) liberal and conservative thinkers, are a central theme throughout the book. The volume includes papers by international experts from a conference in Geneva on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Röpke’s passing. The first part focuses on new biographical insights into his exile years in Istanbul and Geneva, while the second part discusses his business cycle theory in the context of the Great Depression, and the third part elaborates on his multifaceted social philosophy. Wilhelm Röpke was among the most important thinkers within the classical liberal revival post-WWII, with intriguing tensions between liberalism and conservatism. A highly recommended volume. –– Peter J. Boettke, 2016-2018 President of the Mont Pèlerin Society and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, George Mason University This important collection of papers provides an in-depth assessment of Wilhelm Röpke’s contributions, placing him in the context of his time. A fine contribution. –– Bruce J. Caldwell, Director of the Center for the History of Political Economy and Research Professor of Economics, Duke University. (shrink)

[114 pages] This special issue “Understanding Chinese Culture in the World” represents contributions to the Young Experts Symposium 2022 (YES 2022). The event was held online at Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai (China) and provided a platform for topics related to classical, modern, futuristic, and comparative perspectives on Chinese culture—across generations, cultures, and disciplines.

Today, the earth is an interconnected globe humming with electronic transmissions-a chattering planet nestled in the provident silence of space. The ethical question is whether this is contributing to authentic human development and helping individuals and peoples to be true to their transcendent destiny. The new media are powerful tools for education, cultural enrichment, commercial activity, political participation, intercultural dialogue and understanding. They also can serve the cause of religion. Yet the new information technology needs to be informed and guided (...) by solidarity in the service of the common good bridging the digital divide within and among nations. The value-laden message of Western secular culture to people and traditional societies in many cases ill-prepared to evaluate it leads to widespread crisis, for example, in regard to marriage and family life. This technology can be a means for solving human problems, promoting the integral development of persons, creating a world governed by justice, peace, and love. It also can help men and women in their age-old search for self-understanding. Like today's world itself, the world of media, including the Internet, has been brought by Christ, inchoately yet truly, within the boundaries of the kingdom of God and placed in service to the word of salvation. (shrink)

In this important volume Habermas outlines the views which form the basis of his critical theory of modern societies. The volume comprises five interlocking essays, which together define the contours of his theory of communication and of his substantive account of social change. ′What is Universal Pragmatics?′ is the best available statement of Habermas′s programme for a theoryof communication based on the analysis of speech acts. In the following two essays Habermas draws on the work of Kohlberg and (...) others to develop a distinctive account of moral consciousness and normative structures. ′Toward a Reconstruction of historical Materialsim′ takes these issues further, offering a wide–ranging reconstruction of Marx′s historical materialsim understood as a theory of social evolution. The final essay focuses on the question of legitimacy and on the legitimation problems faced by modern states. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned with the key questions of social and political theory today. (shrink)

The problem of communication in de se thoughts is the problem of communication of first-person or self-locating thoughts across the speakers of a conversation. The problem mainly stems from the lack of a proper account of attitude and content — an account that is supposed to explain whether or how the context of linguistic utterances is related to the semantic content of a sentence, assertion and belief. In this paper, after introducing two new semantic items, namely, almost-impossible and (...) almost-necessary propositions, that could be taken as theoretically primitive entities in the semantic framework I wish to draw, I propose an account of modified Lewisian-centered content and attitude based on the metaphysical framework of the Lewisian counterpart-theoretic semantics for quantified modal logic to the extent that the modification relies on those new semantic items. I then show that we can solve the problem by using our modified account. (shrink)

This essay examines liminality as space of which dominant groups largely are ignorant. The limen is at the edge of hardened structures, a place where transgression of the reigning order is possible. As such, it both offers communicative openings and presents communicative impasses to liminal beings. For the limen to be a coalitional space, complex communication is required. This requires praxical awareness of one's own multiplicity and a recognition of the other's opacity that does not attempt to assimilate it (...) into one's own familiar meanings. Refusing the assumption of transparency and operating with relational identities, the complex communication that occurs in the limen—often invisible to dominant groups—can enable genuine coalition and effective resistance to domination. (shrink)

Niklas Luhmann is widely recognized as one of the most original thinkers in the social sciences today. This major new work further develops the theories of the author by offering a challenging analysis of the relationship between society and the environment. Luhmann extends the concept of "ecology" to refer to any analysis that looks at connections between social systems and the surrounding environment. He traces the development of the notion of "environment" from the medieval idea--which encompasses both human and natural (...) systems--to our modern definition, which separates social systems from the external environment. In Luhmann's thought, human beings form part of the environment, while social systems consist only of communications. Utilizing this distinctive theoretical perspective, Luhmann presents a comprehensive catalog of society's reactions to environmental problems. He investigates the spheres of the economy, law, science, politics, religion, and education to show how these areas relate to environmental issues. Ecological Communication is an important work that critically examines claims central to our society--claims to modernity and rationality. It will be of great importance to scholars and students in sociology, political science, philosophy, anthropology, and law. (shrink)

Twitter makes conversation into something like a game. It scores our communication, giving us vivid and quantified feedback, via Likes, Retweets, and Follower counts. But this gamification doesn’t just increase our motivation to communicate; it changes the very nature of the activity. Games are more satisfying than ordinary life precisely because game-goals are simpler, cleaner, and easier to apply. Twitter is thrilling precisely because its goals have been artificially clarified and narrowed. When we buy into Twitter’s gamification, then our (...) values shift from the complex and pluralistic values of communication, to the narrower quest for popularity and virality. Twitter’s gamification bears some resemblance with the phenomena of echo chambers and moral outrage porn. In all these phenomena, we are instrumentalizing our ends for hedonistic reasons. We have shifted our aims in an activity, not because the new aims are more valuable, but in exchange for extra pleasure. (shrink)

La communication en science repose essentiellement sur la communication entre colloques dans un domaine scientifique donné. Les journaux scientifiques, les conférences etc. sont basés sur ce principelà. Par exemple, le concept de peer review suppose un tel cadre collégial, monodisciplinaire. Cependant, la recherche multidisciplinaire et l’engagement sur les problèmes concrets nous poussent à nous pencher sur la situation d’une manière nouvelle. Que pourrait bien vouloir signifier un débat multidisciplinaire? Comment construire un tel débat? Un tel débat n’estil que (...) conflit entre positions inconciliables, une guerre des sciences? Dans un dialogue correct, c’est la pratique, pas la théorie, qui devrait être juge. (shrink)

While it is generally agreed that companies need to manage their relationships with their stakeholders, the way in which they choose to do so varies considerably. In this paper, it is argued that when companies want to communicate with stakeholders about their CSR initiatives, they need to involve those stakeholders in a two-way communication process, defined as an ongoing iterative sense-giving and sense-making process. The paper also argues that companies need to communicate through carefully crafted and increasingly sophisticated processes. (...) Three CSR communication strategies are developed. Based on empirical illustrations and prior research, the authors argue that managers need to move from ‘informing’ and ‘responding’ to ‘involving’ stakeholders in CSR communication itself. They conclude that managers need to expand the role of stakeholders in corporate CSR communication processes if they want to improve their efforts to build legitimacy, a positive reputation and lasting stakeholder relationships. (shrink)

Most people working on linguistic meaning or communication assume that semantics and pragmatics are distinct domains, yet there is still little consensus on how the distinction is to be drawn. The position defended in this paper is that the semantics/pragmatics distinction holds between encoded linguistic meaning and speaker meaning. Two other ‘minimalist’ positions on semantics are explored and found wanting: Kent Bach’s view that there is a narrow semantic notion of context which is responsible for providing semantic values for (...) a small number of indexicals, and Herman Cappelen and Ernie Lepore’s view that semantics includes the provision of values for all indexicals, even though these depend on the speaker’s communicative intentions. Finally, some implications are considered for the favoured semantics/pragmatics distinction of the fact that there are linguistic elements which do not contribute to truth-conditional content but rather provide guidance on pragmatic inference. (shrink)

Abstract:The ethical principle of autonomy requires physicians to respect patient autonomy when present, and to protect the patient who lacks autonomy. Fulfilling this ethical obligation when a patient has a communication impairment presents considerable challenges. Standard methods for evaluating decision-making capacity require a semistructured interview. Some patients with communication impairments are unable to engage in a semistructured interview and are at risk of the wrongful loss of autonomy. In this article, we present a general strategy for assessing decision-making (...) capacity in patients with communication impairments. We derive this strategy by reflecting on a particular case. The strategy involves three steps: (1) determining the reliability of communication, (2) widening the bandwidth of communication, and (3) using compensatory measures of decision-making capacity. We argue that this strategy may be useful for assessing decision-making capacity and preserving autonomy in some patients with communication impairments. (shrink)

Rédigées entre 1943 et 1953, ces notes inédites révèlent combien Michel Henry fut préoccupé par le problème de « l’expérience d’autrui » dès ses années de formation philosophique. Elles révèlent également l’utilisation précoce d’une jeune Henry des Ecritures comme source d’inspiration pour un certain nombre d’intuitions spécifiquement philosophiques qu’il développera dans sa trilogie de fin de vie sur la philosophie du christianisme.

In this paper, I illustrate how children’s mentalizing abilities interface with both implicit and explicit aspects of communication. I use two examples to make this point. First, I argue that some understanding that other people have mental states which can be affected by communication is present already in infancy. I show that this early sensitivity to intentionality is responsible for early communicative successes. Second, I suggest that mindreading is involved in learning the meaning of evidentials and other mental (...) terms. I present some cross‐linguistic evidence for the acquisition of evidential morphemes and relate those findings to young children’s ability to reason about beliefs, evidence and information. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Cognitive Linguistics Jahrgang: 26 Heft: 2 Seiten: 211-260.

This volume brings together Habermas's key writings on language and communication. Including some classic texts as well as new material which is published here for the first time, this book is a detailed and up-to-date introduction to Habermas's formal pragmatics, which is a vital aspect of his social theory. Written from 1976 to 1996, the essays show the extent to which formal pragmatics underpins Habermas's theory of communicative action. They are presented in chronological order, so that the reader can (...) trace developments and revisions in Habermas's thought. The volume includes a critical discussion of Searle's theory of meaning, and Richard Rorty's neopragmatism. It concludes with Habermas's recent defence of his theory of communicative action, in which he reaffirms his view that interpretative understanding inescapably involves evaluation. This book will be an indispensable text for students and academics who want a clear and accessible introduction to the development of Habermas's theory of communication and its relation to his broader social and political theory. (shrink)

Although this study inspects context in general, it is even intended as a prerequisite for a meta-study of contextual time&space in zoo-communication. Moving the scope from linguistics to culture, communication, and semiotics may reveal new similarities between context-perceptions. Paradigmatic historical moves and critical context theories are inspected, asking whether there is a least-common-multiple for perceptions of context. The short answer is that context is relational – a bi-product of attention from a position, creating a focused object, and hence (...) an obscured (back-)ground – the attention’s context. A more comprehensive one is that when the focused phenomenon is culture, semiotics, or communication, context becomes embodied. This recognition triggers new questions: What is the relation between embodied, immanent context and this perception’s external, physical context (its surroundings)? If utterances are regarded as constituted by the triad form-content-act and the dyadic chronotope time&space, what and where is then context? Which challenges will empirical (zoo-)communicational research face if context is split in internal and external versions of context? These questions raise some epistemological and methodological issues. These are discussed based on a framework that regards communication as a micro-macro interplay between utterance and genre. Genres are kinds of communication. More specifically animal genres related to their basic life-functions are called life-genres. A conclusion is that life-genres function as both mental and situational contexts. This complicates empirical research on communication in general, and zoo-communication in particular. The paper concludes that contexts’ relational and embodied nature and the ‘situational’ characteristics of life-genres challenge researchers to validate continuously, shifting between contextualising, decontextualising, and recontextualising. (shrink)

This book presents views of the concept of intention and its relationship to communication from three perspectives: philosphy, linguistics, and artificial intelligence. The book is a record of a workshop held in 1987.

To the extent that language is conventional, non-verbal individuals, including human infants, must participate in conventions in order to learn to use even simple utterances of words. This raises the question of which varieties of learning could make this possible. In this paper I defend Tomasello’s (The cultural origins of human cognition. Harvard UP, Cambridge, 1999, Origins of human communication. MIT, Cambridge, 2008) claim that knowledge of linguistic conventions could be learned through imitation. This is possible because Lewisian accounts (...) of convention have overstated what one must know to participate in conventions; and because the required knowledge could be learned imitatively. The imitation claim that I defend is consistent with what we know about both the proliferation of conventional behaviours in human children, who are skilful imitators, and the comparative absence of such behaviours in non-human great apes, who are poor at imitative learning. (shrink)

While a large social-choice-theoretic literature discusses the aggregation of individual judgments into collective ones, there is much less formal work on the transformation of judgments in group communication. I develop a model of judgment transformation and prove a baseline impossibility theorem: Any judgment transformation function satisfying some initially plausible conditions is the identity function, under which no opinion change occurs. I identify escape routes from this impossibility and argue that the kind of group communication envisaged by deliberative democats (...) must be "holistic": It must focus on webs of connected propositions, not on one proposition at a time, which echoes the Duhem-Quine "holism thesis" on scientific theory testing. My approach provides a map of the logical space in which different possible group communication processes are located. (shrink)