Agnes Arber's international reputation is due in part to her exceptional ability to interpret the German tradition of scholarship for the English-speaking world. The Mind and the Eye is an erudite book, revealing its author's familiarity with philosophy from Plato and Aristotle through Aquinas to Kant and Hegel; but it is not dull, because the quiet enthusiasm of the author shines through. In this book she turns from the work of a specialist in one science to those wider questions which (...) any scientist must ask at intervals. What, in short, is the relationship between the eye that sees and the mind that weighs and pronounces? An important feature of this Cambridge Science Classics reissue is the introduction provided by Professor P. R. Bell, who as a Cambridge botany student at the time that Agnes Arber was writing The Natural Philosopby of Plant Form, is uniquely able to set The Mind and the Eye in the context of contemporary biological research. (shrink)

Objections to the use of historical case studies for philosophical ends fall into two categories. Methodological objections claim that historical accounts and their uses by philosophers are subject to various biases. We argue that these challenges are not special; they also apply to other epistemic practices. Metaphysical objections, on the other hand, claim that historical case studies are intrinsically unsuited to serve as evidence for philosophical claims, even when carefully constructed and used, and so constitute a distinct class of challenge. (...) We show that attention to what makes for a canonical case can address these problems. A case study is canonical with respect to a particular philosophical aim when the features relevant to that aim provide a reasonably complete causal account of the results of the historical process under investigation. We show how to establish canonicity by evaluating relevant contingencies using two prominent examples from the history of science: Eddington’s confirmation of Einstein’s theory of general relativity using his data from the 1919 eclipse and Watson and Crick’s determination of the structure of DNA. (shrink)

We investigated whether motivationally determined stimulus valence can be processed in an automatic way, as is assumed in many appraisal theories (e.g., Frijda, 1986, 1993; Lazarus, 1991; Scherer, 1993a). Whereas appraisal theorists typically use conscious self-report methods to investigate their assumptions, our experiments used indirect experimental methods that leave less room for deliberate, conscious reflections of the participants. Using variants of the affective priming and Simon paradigms, we demonstrated that intrinsically neutral, but wanted stimuli facilitated responses with a positive valence, (...) whereas intrinsically neutral, but unwanted stimuli facilitated negative responses. In addition, the second experiment proved to be supportive of another assumption made by appraisal theorists according to which a relation exits between different (automatic) outcomes of motivational appraisal (positive-negative) and different action tendencies (approach-withdrawal). (shrink)

Un parallèle est fréquemment établi entre le blâme de soi et le blâme d'autrui. Cet article cherche à montrer que celui-ci est infondé et que le blâme de soi et le blâme d’autrui ne sont que superficiellement analogues. Pour ce faire, nous montrerons qu’aucun des rapprochements défendus dans la littérature contemporaine n’est concluant. Nous commencerons par distinguer la phénoménologie du blâme de soi de celle du blâme d’autrui. Dans un second temps, nous distinguerons la fonction du blâme de soi de (...) celle du blâme d’autrui. Finalement, nous montrerons que le blâme de soi est moralement acceptable dans des cas où le blâme d’autrui est interdit. À travers cette discussion, nous espérons montrer que le blâme de soi est une attitude fondamentalement différente du blâme d’autrui et qu’il mérite notre attention en tant que phénomène distinct. A parallel is often drawn between self-blame and interpersonal blame. This article seeks to show that this parallel is unfounded and that self-blame and interpersonal blame are only superficially analogous. To this end, we will show that none of the comparisons defended in contemporary literature is conclusive. We will begin by distinguishing the phenomenology of self-blame from that of interpersonal blame. Second, we will distinguish the function of self-blame from that of interpersonal blame. Finally, we will show that self-blame is morally permissible in cases where interpersonal blame is prohibited. With this discussion, we hope to show that self-blame is a fundamentally different attitude from interpersonal blame and that it deserves our attention as a distinct phenomenon. (shrink)

Critics of appraisal theory have difficulty accepting appraisal (with its constructive flavor) as an automatic process, and hence as a potential cause of most emotions. In response, some appraisal theorists have argued that appraisal was never meant as a causal process but as a constituent of emotional experience. Others have argued that appraisal is a causal process, but that it can be either rule-based or associative, and that the associative variant can be automatic. This article first proposes empirically investigating whether (...) rule-based appraisal can also be automatic and then proposes investigating the automatic nature of constructive (instead of rule-based) appraisal because the distinction between rule-based and associative is problematic. Finally, it discusses experiments that support the view that constructive appraisal can be automatic. (shrink)

Agnes Heller conversó con la Redacción de Areté el 24 de abril de 2003, durante una visita a la Universidad Católica para dictar la Lección Inaugural del Año Académico de la Facultad de Letras y Ciencias Humanas. En la conversación estuvieron presentes los profesores Pepi Patrón, Fidel Tubino y Miguel Giusti.

In this journal I showed that an English monastery-teacher's marginal interpretations of Virgil had furnished material to the English group of Latin Glossaries—Corpus, First Amplonian , Second Amplonian , etc.; also that this English edition had no connexion with that Spanish Virgil whose ‘glossae collectae’ make Professor Goetz' so-called Virgil Glossary and furnished material to the Abolita Glossary.

In this paper, I take scientific models to be epistemic representations of their target systems. I define an epistemic representation to be a tool for gaining information about its target system and argue that a vehicle’s capacity to provide specific information about its target system—its informativeness—is an essential feature of this kind of representation. I draw an analogy to our ordinary notion of interpretation to show that a user’s aim of faithfully representing the target system is necessary for securing this (...) feature. (shrink)

Aspiration by Agnes Callard locates standing assumptions in the theory of rationality, moral psychology and autonomy that preclude the possibility of working to acquire new values. The book also explains what changes need to be made if we are to make room for this form of agency, which I call aspiration.

Utilising science and technology to maximize human performance is often an essential feature of military activity. This can often be focused on mission success rather than just the welfare of the individuals involved. This tension has the potential to threaten the autonomy of soldiers and military physicians around the taking or administering of enhancement neurotechnologies (e.g., pills, neural implants, and neuroprostheses). The Hybrid Framework was proposed by academic researchers working in the U.S. context and comprises “rules” for military neuroenhancement (e.g., (...) ensuring transparency and maintaining dignity of the warfighter). Integrating traditional bioethical perspectives with the unique requirements of the military environment, it has been referenced by military/government agencies tasked with writing official ethical frameworks. Our two-part investigation explored the ethical dimensions of military neuroenhancements with military officers – those most likely to be making decisions in this area in the future. In three workshops, structured around the Hybrid Framework, we explored what they thought about the ethical issues of enhancement neurotechnologies. From these findings, we conducted a survey (N = 332) to probe the extent of rule endorsement. Results show high levels of endorsement for a warfighter’s decision-making autonomy, but lower support for the view that enhanced warfighters would pose a danger to society after service. By examining the endorsement of concrete decision-making guidelines, we provide an overview of how military officers might, in practice, resolve tensions between competing values or higher-level principles. Our results suggest that the military context demands a recontextualisation of the relationship between military and civilian ethics. (shrink)

This paper seeks to determine the extent to which individuals with borderline personality disorders can be held morally responsible for a particular subset of their actions: disproportionate anger, aggressions and displays of temper. The rationale for focusing on these aspects lies in their widespread acknowledgment in the literature and their plausible primary association with blame directed at BPD patients. BPD individuals are indeed typically perceived as “difficult patients” (Sulzer 2015, Bodner et al. 2011), significantly more so than schizophrenic or depressive (...) patients (Markam 2003). The “responsibility question” for patients with BPD has already been raised (Martin 2010, Zachar & Potter 2009, Bray 2003), but this paper tackles it from a novel perspective. First, I narrow down the category of things for which the responsibility question is specific to individual with BPD. After that, I argue that some of the diagnosis criteria of BPD such as emotional instability or impulsivity might serve as excusing factors targeting the “control condition” on moral responsibility. Second, this paper also considers another widely accepted condition on moral responsibility: the epistemic condition. The view defended in the paper is that the answer to the responsibility question for individuals with BPD, concerning both the control condition and the epistemic condition, hinges on an understanding of their epistemic profile. (shrink)

This paper, based on the recent UNESCO report Our Cultural Diversity, makes a plea for including art as an integral part of culture. Serious doubts are raised about the long-term effects oflopsided scientific-technical education. The pioneering but neglected ideas of Goethe, Schiller, Steiner, Tagore and Read on the role of art in total human development have been discussed. According to the author, the critical innovation in the sphere of education is now going to be on the borders between art, science (...) and religion. (shrink)

Contract theories may be a useful analytical tool for understanding and explaining contract, as well as for facilitating orientation in a complex and often fragmented legal regulation. The article presents main understandings of contract in various European jurisdictions: contract as free assumption of obligation, contract as a bargain based on the idea of consideration, contract as free assumption of obligation based on sufficient causa. The article inquires as to how universal those theories are, what are the recent trends in the (...) development of European contract law, what philosophy of contract underlies the soft law instruments, such as UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts or Principles of European Contract Law (PECL), what is the stance of the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) in regard to the concept of contract. Under the law of Lithuania the definition of contract comprises elements found in several European countries, but it is argued that the new Lithuanian Civil Code has not received any model in its pure form. However it seems that the prevailing view understands contract as juridical act, as freely assumed obligation and meeting of parties’ intentions with the aim to create legal effects. Following the position of soft law instruments in regard to the elements of the contract, Lithuanian law (at least in its statutory form) does not have any explicit additional requirements, such as consideration or causa. (shrink)

This paper critically engages with how life not worth living (LNWL) and cognate concepts are used in the field of beginning-of-life bioethics as the basis of arguments for morally requiring the application of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and/or germline genome editing (GGE). It is argued that an objective conceptualization of LNWL is largely too unreliable in beginning-of-life cases for deriving decisive normative reasons that would constitute a moral duty on the part of intending parents. Subjective frameworks are found to be (...) more suitable to determine LNWL, but they are not accessible in beginning-of-life cases because there is no subject yet. Conceptual and sociopolitical problems are additionally pointed out regarding the common usage of clear case exemplars. The paper concludes that a moral requirement for the usage of PGD and GGE cannot be derived from the conceptual base of LNWL, as strong reasons that can be reliably determined are required to limit reproductive freedom on moral grounds. Educated predictions on prospective well-being might still be useful regarding the determination of moral permissibility of PGD and/or GGE. It is suggested that due to the high significance of subjective experience in the normativity of beginning-of-life bioethics, the discipline is called to more actively realize the inclusion of people with disabilities. This regards for instance research design, citation practices, and language choices to increase the accessibility of societal debates on the reproductive ethics of genetic technologies. (shrink)

This article presents a developmental ecological approach to the emergence and development of metaphor in children, based on the ecological psychology tradition following the work of J.J. Gibson, and its extension into developmental research and theory, as developed by E.J. Gibson and others. This framework suggests that a basic compatibility and meaningfulness exists between the knower and the known, based on the direct perception of affordances. To build an ecological understanding of metaphor we need to clarify how this metaphysical ground (...) plays out in acts of knowing that involve metaphor. In this endeavor, it is important to understand the ontogenesis of novel insightful metaphors and the role of perception. Developmental ecological psychology has repeatedly shown that infants can perceive meta-modal invariants that specify persistence of qualities. Early metaphors are consequences of the process in which invariants over naturally occurring kinds are perceived. Thus, novel metaphor production is an act of situated and experience-dependent perceiving and acting in the ecological world of socially shared meanings. Examples from previous experimental and qualitative research are reviewed to substantiate theoretical claims. (shrink)

The association of celebrity worship with mental health concerns has been extensively studied in the past two decades. However, there is a lack of research on basic demographic characteristics that can potentially alter the link between celebrity admiration and different aspects of mental health. The present study investigates the possible moderating role of gender, age, and opposite/same-gender celebrity selection on the association of celebrity worship with general well-being, self-esteem and perceived daytime sleepiness. A total of 1763 Hungarian adults completed an (...) online survey focusing on attitudes and behaviors relating to celebrities and mental well-being. The moderation analysis showed that the negative association between celebrity worship and self-esteem was slightly stronger for women than for men, and the association between celebrity worship and perceived daytime sleepiness was slightly stronger for younger individuals than for older ones. Although both gender and age were particularly weak moderators, these results draw the attention to some potential individual differences when interpreting links between celebrity worship and different aspects of mental health. (shrink)

An Ethics of Personality d addresses the ultimate question of modern ethics: how is morality possible after the `death of God'. It is the closing volume - General Ethics d and Philosophy of Morals d - of Agnes Heller's trilogy A Theory of Morals. d.

Un parallèle est fréquemment établi entre le blâme de soi et le blâme d'autrui. Cet article cherche à montrer que celui-ci est infondé et que le blâme de soi et le blâme d’autrui ne sont que superficiellement analogues. Pour ce faire, nous montrerons qu’aucun des rapprochements défendus dans la littérature contemporaine n’est concluant. Nous commencerons par distinguer la phénoménologie du blâme de soi de celle du blâme d’autrui. Dans un second temps, nous distinguerons la fonction du blâme de soi de (...) celle du blâme d’autrui. Finalement, nous montrerons que le blâme de soi est moralement acceptable dans des cas où le blâme d’autrui est interdit. À travers cette discussion, nous espérons montrer que le blâme de soi est une attitude fondamentalement différente du blâme d’autrui et qu’il mérite notre attention en tant que phénomène distinct. -/- A parallel is often drawn between self-blame and interpersonal blame. This article seeks to show that this parallel is unfounded and that self-blame and interpersonal blame are only superficially analogous. To this end, we will show that none of the comparisons defended in contemporary literature is conclusive. We will begin by distinguishing the phenomenology of self-blame from that of interpersonal blame. Second, we will distinguish the function of self-blame from that of interpersonal blame. Finally, we will show that self-blame is morally permissible in cases where interpersonal blame is prohibited. With this discussion, we hope to show that self-blame is a fundamentally different attitude from interpersonal blame and that it deserves our attention as a distinct phenomenon. (shrink)

Nous étudions dans cet article les différentes formes de prédication seconde détachée en position initiale dans un corpus comparable composé de textes d’économie en anglais et en français. Ce corpus a été annoté sous le logiciel Analec. L’enjeu est de montrer en quoi un même phénomène syntaxique est exploité, sur le plan discursif, de façon divergente dans chacune des deux langues. Une étude qualitative et quantitative des prédications secondes du corpus montre que la prédication seconde prend le plus souvent la (...) forme d’une participiale en –ing en anglais, où elle se spécialise dans un rôle méta-énonciatif de balise textuelle pour le lecteur, ce qui n’est pas le cas en français. (shrink)

d’un côté ; victimes et sacrifices de l’autre. Même les pleurs et les résistances sont traduits en consentement car de toutes façons « les femmes paraissent ne pas vouloir ce qu’elles désirent le plus » Fortunées, Cythère, Icarie, Utopia : des îles qui font rêver?Qu’on les nomme, chez Homère ou chez Hésiode, et ultérieurement chez Pindare, « île des Bienheureux » située « aux extrémités de la terre », île d'abondance et de festins, loin des labeurs et des combats, ou (...) comme Diodore de Sicile,... (shrink)

The main goal of this article is to analyse the current status of the precautionary principle in international law and outline the tendencies of its development into a rule of customary law. The methods of comparative and systematic analysis were used in this paper. The article concludes that there is sufficient state practice and opinio iuris to support the position of the European Communities that the precautionary principle has already crystallized into a general customary rule. Evidence may be found in (...) international legally binding and non-binding documents, domestic law, and the jurisprudence of national and international courts and tribunals. (shrink)

Les astrologues étaient, au xviii e siècle, l’une des cibles satiriques des auteurs des Lumières, qui appelaient « superstition » ce qui ne rentrait pas dans le cadre de la science et de la religion instituées. Le traitement de ces personnages dans les œuvres de Walter Scott et d’E.T.A. Hoffmann indique toutefois qu’un tournant a eu lieu au début du xix e siècle : à partir notamment du modèle schillérien, cette figure à l’identité ambiguë a acquis une profondeur nouvelle grâce (...) à sa capacité à revêtir de nombreux masques. Scott et Hoffmann ne représentent pas l’astrologie comme une menace ou un objet de dérision qu’il convient de tourner en ridicule. Elle est devenue chez eux aussi bien un « moment » du passé qui possède une valeur d’exemplarité historique, qu’une des voies permettant la défense des pouvoirs de l’imagination et d’une vision enchantée du monde. Il est donc pertinent de remettre en question certaines idées que ces auteurs défendent à propos de leur œuvre : la prose de Walter Scott n’est pas aussi opposée à celle de Hoffmann qu’il l’a affirmé, et Hoffmann, en ce qui concerne du moins l’histoire des croyances, hérite lui aussi du rationalisme des Lumières qu’il entend dénoncer. (shrink)

This paper is based on the findings of my PhD research into at the effect of participation in the Roman Catholic Sacrament of the Eucharist on the formation of subjectivity viewed from the perspective of Feminist Liberation Theology. Taking Eucharist as a communal manifestation of belief in communion with the divine celebrated through symbolic liturgical enactments of thanksgiving and praise I am exploring the link between Feminist Relational Theologies and new findings in Cosmology and Quantum Theology that highlight interdependence and (...) relationality as basic to our understanding of ourselves and the nature of the divine. Subsequently the contribution of these theologies that offer the possibility of a more expansive and inclusive interpretation of the meaning transmitted by the symbols used in Eucharistic gatherings might provide a space where the indwelling of the divine in all its diverse manifestations can be recognized and celebrated. (shrink)

Selon l'étude européenne translinguistique Neurodys (Becker et al., 2013), la prévalence de la dyslexie touche entre 5 et 10% des enfants âgés de 8 à 12 ans. L’apprentissage du langage écrit revient à maîtriser conjointement ses deux versants : lecture et écriture. La présente étude vise l’analyse des processus d'écriture utilisés par des scripteurs dyslexiques (DL) et dysorthographiques (DO). Afin de favoriser les collaborations chercheurs-praticiens, comme le proposent Hayes et Berninger (2014), nous étudions les données chronométriques relatives à un corpus (...) de textes recueillis auprès de 7 adolescents dyslexiques et dysorthographiques, recrutés dans le cadre de situations de soin courant orthophonique, afin de décrire les opérations de traitement cognitif du langage écrit en contexte d’activité rédactionnelle. Les corpus de productions écrites d’adolescents DL/DO suivis en orthophonie apportent par le biais du relevé chronométrique (vitesses d’écriture, durées des pauses en fonction de leur localisation dans le texte, longueur des passages d’écriture sans pause longue) des éléments sur l’activité de rédaction et les modalités de révision du texte. Ce travail ouvre des perspectives quant au recueil de données en contexte professionnel, de manière à interroger les données cliniques par des outils de recherche développés en linguistique de corpus. (shrink)

Standard dual-process models in the action domain postulate that stimulus-driven processes are responsible for suboptimal behavior because they take them to be rigid and automatic and therefore the default. We propose an alternative dual-process model in which goal-directed processes are the default instead. We then transfer the dual- process logic from the action domain to the emotion domain. This reveals that emotional behavior is often attributed to stimulus-driven processes. Our alternative model submits that goal-directed processes could be the primary determinant (...) of emotional behavior instead. We evaluate the type of empirical evidence required for validating our model and we consider implications of our model for behavior change, encouraging strategies focused on the expectancies and values of action outcomes. (shrink)

Freud, Psychoanalysis and Symbolism offers an innovative general theory of symbolism, derived from Freud's psychoanalytic theory and relocated within mainstream scientific psychology. It is the first systematic investigation of the development of Freud's treatment of symbolism throughout his published works, and discovers in those writings a broad theory which is far superior to the widely accepted, narrow, 'official' view. Agnes Petocz argues that the treatment of symbolism must begin with the identification and clarification of a set of logical constraints and (...) psychological requirements which any general theory of symbolism must respect, and that these requirements have been neglected by existing accounts across a number of disciplines. Her newly proposed 'Freudian broad' theory of symbolism, by contrast, does meet these requirements, but only after it has been rehabilitated within a revised psychoanalytic context, encompassing major changes to our understanding of the concepts of unconscious and repression and the role of language. (shrink)

This radical analysis of the role and importance of historiography interprets the philosophy and theory of history on the basis of historicity as a human condition. The book examins the norms and methods of historiography from a philosophical point of view, but rejects generalisations tht the philosophy of history can provide all the answers to contemporary problems. Instead it outlines a feasible theory of history which is still radical enough to apply to all social structures.

This article distinguishes between two constituents of modernity which together stand for the essence of modernity. It also distinguishes between three logics or tendencies in modernity. In pursuit of these aims it concentrates on a single issue, arguing that one cannot understand modernity, particularly not its heterogeneous character, from the viewpoint of the technological imagination (the Heideggerian Gestell) alone. The article interprets modernity as a world that draws on two sources of imagination: the technological and the historical. Most of this (...) article is devoted to discussing these two kinds of imagination, their conflicts, balances, and imbalances within each of the three logics of modernity. The article demonstrates that the balance between the two kinds of imagination is different in each of the three logics, and that the role of the historical imagination is different not only in terms of force and magnitude but also in kind. (shrink)

Daniel Fabre, ethnologue de l’Europe, directeur d’études à l’EHESS, nous a quittés brutalement en janvier dernier. Nombreux sont les collègues et amis qui ont tenu à rendre hommage au grand chercheur et à l’ami chaleureux. On pourra lire dans les principales revues d’ethnologie, L’Homme, Ethnologie française, Gradhiva, Ethnographique.org des textes mettant l’accent sur tel ou tel aspect de son apport à la discipline. Pour ma part, j’ai évoqué l’ami cher et l’exceptionnel animateur de recherch...