Sidonius Apollinaris’ Epist. 3.12 tells how one day, while leaving Lyons, he caught a couple of gravediggers about to violate his grandfather Apollinaris’ grave, which had become unrecognizable over time. He instructs the addressee, his nephew Secundus, to restore the tomb mound and provide it with a stone for which he attaches the text. Whereas this letter is usually interpreted as a piece of self-promotion by the author for his filial piety and expert storytelling, this article suggests that there is (...) a significant subtext to be found in Lucan's Pharsalia which makes the letter first and foremost a rehabilitation of Apollinaris while strongly suggesting that the latter was executed. There follow some rather more tentative thoughts trying to grasp the precise critical moment in time for this rehabilitation. It is argued that this could be Sidonius’ departure for Clermont, in 469/470 to take on the episcopate, after his term as City Prefect of Rome and a stay in Lyons with Bishop Patiens. The letter is aimed at bolstering family cohesion in the conflict of interests between Auvergne and Provence and at securing Sidonius’ position as incumbent bishop. (shrink)

Long undervalued in France, philosophical anthropology has played an essential role in Germany, helping to address some of the most important issues straddling philosophy and the social sciences: humanity's place in nature and in history; the individual and others; and relations between human groups.

La conception épicurienne du temps comporte trois difficultés principales : il y a un temps physique objectif, bien que le temps semble dépendre en lui-même de nos représentations ; le temps peut être perçu par la raison, mais, selon certains textes, il n'est perçu que par la sensation ; Epicure, enfin, se refuse à lui attribuer une unité réelle. Ces difficultés trouvent en partie leur solution à la lumière de la théorie épicurienne du langage, ainsi que dans le statut accidentel (...) et secondaire du temps par rapport aux événements, internes et externes. The Epicurean conception of time leads to three major difficulties : there is indeed a physical objective time, though time seems to depend in itself of our representations ; time may be perceived by reason, but, according to a few texts, it is only perceived but by sensation ; finally, Epicure refuses to grant it some real unity. The latter difficulties find in part their solution in the light of the Epicurean theory of language as well as in the accidental and secondary status of time as related to events be them internal or external. (shrink)

RésuméPour marquer le vingtième anniversaire de la mort du philosophe Ferdinand Gonseth, le fondateur et l'animateur de Dialectica, cet article lui est consacré. Les autres – le premier biologiste et le second thélogien, membres du Comité directeur – abordent brièvement quelquesuns des thèmes les plus marquants de la philosophie gonséthienne. Il est ici question, pour l'essentiel, de l'Idonéisme et de certaines de ses implications, de l'option d'ouverture relative à la recherche scientifique: la procédure des quatre phases de la démarche expérimentale, (...) les quatre principes caractérisant la connaissance dialectique. (shrink)

Le discours de Plotin sur la phusis ne relève pas à proprement parler de la « science » de la nature. Il s’efforce cependant de caractériser la nature elle-même et son mode de production spécifique dans le Traité 30 -De la nature, de la contemplation et de l’Un. Ce traité recourt, concernant la nature, à une argumentation d’un type spécifique – en l’occurrence, une argumentation négative. On analyse ici la manière dont Plotin définit la production naturelle par un double contraste (...) : en l’opposant à la production technique et à l’action. Il montre ainsi qu’il y a un discours spécifique sur la nature, mais aussi que la méthode la plus appropriée consiste à dire ce qu’elle n’est pas.Comment parler de la nature? Plotinus’ analysis of phusis doesn’t belong, properly speaking, to « science » of Nature. Nevertheless Plotinus tries to characterize Nature itself in a specific way, that is through a negative argumentation. According to Treatise 30 - On Nature and Contemplation and the One, Nature must be defined in contrast with two kinds of activities : technical production and action. It appears, consequently, that there is a specific discourse about Nature, but also that the most appropriate method consists in telling what Nature is not. (shrink)

Une des principales difficultés posées par la conception démocritéenne de la connaissance est de savoir si ses énoncés aporétiques l'emportent sur ses énoncés positifs et si l'on peut parler de scepticisme à son propos. En présentant ces propositions en séries antithétiques, on constate que la dimension aporétique de la pensée de Démocrite est bien réelle mais qu'elle s'exprime moins par telle ou telle formule que par les rapports entre ses énoncés constitutifs. One of the main difficulties surging from the Democritean (...) conception of knowledge is to know whether his aporetic statements go beyond his positive statements and whether one may define him as sceptical. Showing such statements in the form of antithetical series, one suddenly realizes that Democritus' thought is « sceptical » indeed but is less expressed through any such formula rather than through relationships between its inherent elements of enunciation. (shrink)

First collection of essays entirely devoted to the inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda. The texts of Diogenes of Oinoanda (2nd century AD) who invited his readers to an Epicurean life is the largest ancient inscription ever discovered. Over 70 new finds have increased the number of known wall blocks and fragments to nearly 300, offering new insights into Diogenes' distinctive presentation of philosophy. This collection of essays discusses the philosophical significance of these discoveries and is the first of this kind (...) entirely devoted to Diogenes of Oinoanda. Particular attention is paid to his philosophical aims and polemical strategies. Diogenes was apparently well aware of still ongoing philosophical debates, engaging in polemics against Presocratic philosophers, Platonics, and especially Stoics. His views about important issues like happiness, fear, old age, and the afterlife are explained on the bases of Epicurean physics and theology, ethics, politics, theory of knowledge, and psychology. (shrink)

The interdisciplinary field of neurorobotics looks to neuroscience to overcome the limitations of modern robotics technology, to robotics to advance our understanding of the neural system’s inner workings, and to information technology to develop tools that support those complementary endeavours. The development of these technologies is still at an early stage, which makes them an ideal candidate for proactive and anticipatory ethical reflection. This article explains the current state of neurorobotics development within the Human Brain Project, originating from a close (...) collaboration between the scientific and technical experts who drive neurorobotics innovation, and the humanities and social sciences scholars who provide contextualising and reflective capabilities. This article discusses some of the ethical issues which can reasonably be expected. On this basis, the article explores possible gaps identified within this collaborative, ethical reflection that calls for attention to ensure that the development of neurorobotics is ethically sound and socially acceptable and desirable. (shrink)

Epicureanism is not only a defence of pleasure: it is also a philosophy of science and knowledge. This edited collection explores new pathways for the study of Epicurean scientific thought, a hitherto still understudied domain, and engages systematically and critically with existing theories. It shows that the philosophy of Epicurus and his heirs, from antiquity to the classical age, founded a rigorous and coherent conception of knowledge. This first part of a two-volume set examines more specifically the contribution of Epicureanism (...) in the fields of language, medicine, and meteorology (i.e., celestial, geological and atmospheric phenomena). Offering a renewed image of Epicureanism, [volume 1] includes studies on the nature of human language and on the linguistic aspects of scientific discourse; on the relationship between Epicureanism and ancient medicine, from Hippocrates to Galen; on meteorological phenomena and the method of explaining them; and on the reception of Epicurus's legacy in Gassendi. (shrink)

Epicureanism is not only a defence of pleasure: it is also a philosophy of science and knowledge. This edited collection explores new pathways for the study of Epicurean scientific thought, a hitherto still understudied domain, and engages systematically and critically with existing theories. It shows that the philosophy of Epicurus and his heirs, from antiquity to the classical age, founded a rigorous and coherent conception of knowledge. This first part of a two-volume set examines more specifically the contribution of Epicureanism (...) in the fields of language, medicine, and meteorology (i.e., celestial, geological and atmospheric phenomena). Offering a renewed image of Epicureanism, the book includes studies on the nature of human language and on the linguistic aspects of scientific discourse; on the relationship between Epicureanism and ancient medicine, from Hippocrates to Galen; on meteorological phenomena and the method of explaining them; and on the reception of Epicurus's legacy in Gassendi. (shrink)

Georg Agricola’s De Re Metallica (1556) is an impressive work about mining arts and sciences, still used as a reference work to understand the mining world of his time and to analyze the relationships between scholars and practitioners. This essay begins by studying how Agricola presents the underground surveying, also known as geometria subterranea. How does the author’s mathematics relate to contemporary geometry or to actual surveying practices? Second, the essay contrasts his scholarly approach with sixteenth-century administrative and technical documents, (...) as well as mining sermons. Comparing the practical geometry contained in the De Re Metallica with different kinds of sources helps to question the relationships between the arts and natural and exact sciences in the practical settings of early modern Europe. Finally, it argues for a distinction between the inquiry on the historical progress of mathematics in civil life and philosophical questions about the rise of new sciences. (shrink)

Dans le traité De la divination dans le sommeil, Aristote entend réfuter la thèse d’une origine divine des rêves qui semblent annoncer les événements futurs. Pour cela, il ne se contente pas de soutenir une thèse différente. Il dénonce également la faiblesse épistémologique de la pratique divinatoire, en proposant un modèle scientifique alternatif : une méthode de classification des rêves et de division par épuisement, qui exclut les rêves inspirés. Cette méthode conduit à souligner le caractère irréductible des faits de (...) hasard et à admettre le caractère inexplicable d’un grand nombre de rêves « véridiques ». La notion de coïncidence ( sumptôma ) joue sur ce point un rôle essentiel. Ce rôle est à la fois descriptif et critique : il permet de définir la classe des rêves dont la dimension véridique est absolument fortuite, et il dénonce l’illusion commune qui les relie à des événements réels. De ce point de vue, le chapitre 1 du De divinatione apporte une contribution, modeste mais spécifique, à la théorie des modalités physiques. (shrink)

L'Aufklärung allemande s'est réapproprié polémiquement le concept rousseauiste de perfectibilité, souvent avec d'importants déplacements. Théologie, philosophie, histoire naturelle, pédagogie, anthropologie concourent à un débat critique par lequel cette anthologie montre la pluralité des Lumières. --.

This article aims to clarify the question of speed and intensity in the thoughts of Simondon and Deleuze, in order to shed light on the recent debates regarding accelerationism and its politics. Instead of starting with speed, we propose to look into the notion of intensity and how it serves as a new ontological ground in Simondon's and Deleuze's philosophy and politics. Simondon mobilises the concept of intensity to criticise hylomorphism and substantialism; Deleuze, taking up Simondon's conceptual framework, repurposes it (...) for his ontology of difference, elevating intensity to the rank of generic concept of being, thus bypassing notions of negativity and individuals as base, in favour of the productive and universal character of difference. In Deleuze, the correlation between intensity and speed is fraught with ambiguities, with each term threatening to subsume the other; this rampant tension becomes explicitly antagonistic when taken up by the diverse strands of contemporary accelerationism, resulting in two extreme cases in the posthuman discourse: either a pure becoming, achieved through destruction, or through abstraction that does away with intensity altogether; or an intensity without movement or speed, that remains a pure jouissance. Both cases appear to stumble over the problem of individuation, if not disindividuation. Hence, we wish to raise the following question: in what way can one think of an accelerationist politics with intensity, or an intensive politics without the fetishisation of speed? We consider this question central to the interrogation of the limits of acceleration and posthuman discourse, thus requiring a new philosophical thought on intensity and speed. (shrink)

L'ensemble que forment ces contributions porte sur les différentes périodes et questions dont Jean Salem était lui-même spécialiste, ou les aborde par des biais inattendus : l'atomisme et l'épicurisme de l'Antiquité, la philosophie classique et le matérialisme des Lumières, le matérialisme moderne et ses critiques, la tradition marxiste, le pragmatisme, la pensée économique, la philosophie du vin ou encore la lecture philosophique des œuvres littéraires. Ce volume propose ainsi un aperçu de l'état des recherches sur le matérialisme, sous ses différentes (...) formes et dans ses interactions avec les autres traditions philosophiques."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Many elementary school students have difficulties in reading and writing. However, researches showed that effective teaching practices have positive impacts in the success of students at school precisely in their reading and writing learning process. This paper presents results of a study on reported reading and writing teaching practices conducted on four sixth grade teachers by following a literature review on social constructivist theories winning practices. The results showed that they use innovative practices that incorporate reading, writing and oral communication (...) teachings in class ; even if they still have traditional practices such as dictation. They also focused on interdisciplinary and cross-functional projects. Those activities are more significant because of their closeness with the children’s reality and interests. In sum, the interviews revealed the teachers’ methods as a whole and an open-plan, which many effective practices studies recommend. (shrink)

La formule célèbre d’Aristote « la nature ne fait rien en vain », telle qu’elle est utilisée dans le traité sur la Locomotion des animaux, invite à reformuler le problème général du finalisme en zoologie et de la conformité à la nature. Bien que cette formule, en première approche, semble aller dans le sens d’une téléologie cosmique ou globale, elle conduit en fait à privilégier une téléologie relative, c’est-à-dire locale, qui opère à l’échelle des êtres vivants. Elle s’applique en effet, (...) non pas de manière absolue, mais relativement aux possibilités définies par la nature de l’espèce (propriétés spécifiques et génériques). Toutefois, elle n’exprime pas seulement le rapport à la finalité organique stricto sensu, mais aussi les conditions nécessaires externes du mouvement animal, conditions qui définissent, pour les espèces et les genres, un régime commun d’organisation. (shrink)

La géométrie souterraine est une science mathématique pratique, qui se développe dans les exploitations minières et dont la diffusion est considérablement modifiée au cours du xviiie siècle. Ce phénomène est lié à l’institutionnalisation graduelle de la discipline, de l’établissement d’un système de compagnonnage à la création d’académies des mines. Progressivement, les pratiques vont faire appel à de nouvelles méthodes et intégrer une solide formation en mathématiques théoriques. La circulation et l’enseignement des connaissances sont dans un premier temps basés sur un (...) système de manuscrits qui sera étudié en détail. L’exemple du Markscheider August Beyer (1677-1753) illustre ce processus collectif de constitution et de transmission de connaissances, dont la diffusion est cependant contrôlée. Nous analysons dans un second temps l’évolution des vecteurs de circulation et son influence sur la discipline, en nous appuyant sur la biographie de deux mathématiciens saxons, J.A. Scheidhauer (1718-1784) et son discipline J.F. Lempe (1757-1801). Leurs parcours croisés symbolisent la transformation de la discipline. Le passage à l’imprimé, la publication d’articles dans des revues spécialisées et la création de chaires académiques font de la géométrie souterraine une science reconnue qui reste cependant en dehors du corpus de connaissances et des débats universitaires. (shrink)