Background: Clinical and experimental findings have suggested that insomnia is associated with altered emotion processing, such as facial emotion recognition and impairments in executive functions. However, the results still appear non-consensual and have recently been presented by a few number of studies. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether patients with Insomnia disorder will present alterations in recognition of facial emotions and that such alterations will be related to Executive Functions and that Insomnia Disorder patients will (...) exhibit a lower Executive Functions performance when compared to normal controls individuals. Method: A total of 11 individuals diagnosed with insomnia disorder and 15 control participants took part in the present cross-sectional study. They completed questionnaires covering socio-demographic data, a sleep and mood evaluation, and a cognitive assessment. Moreover, they underwent a computerized Facial Emotional Recognition test, consisting of facial emotion labeling and facial emotion matching. Results: Individuals with insomnia presented a lower recognition of facial expressions of fear and sadness in comparison to control volunteers. Perceptual Organization Index was found to be statistically significant lower in the insomnia group compared to the control group. There was a statistically significant association between facial recognition emotional and cognitive processes of in executive functions performance, especially in processes related to the inhibitory control, planning capacity, problem solving and cognitive flexibility in insomnia group. Conclusions: Insomnia disorder impairs the facial emotion recognition of the fear and sadness. Insomniacs with impairment in the facial emotion recognition had impaired performance of executive functions. There is a negative impact on processes related to cognitive-emotional capacity than on processes related to social-emotional recognition. Keywords: insomnia, facial emotional recognition, sleep deprivation, cognition, executive functions. (shrink)

Tolerance is not neutrality, nor should tolerance in counselling be equated with a spiritual and emotional vacuum. Tolerance applies to style rather than stance, and a counsellor needs a conception of the ideal — broadly speaking, a moral position. Originally proclaimed against religious and political tyranny, the political ideal of tolerance has in the twentieth century become confused with permissiveness, and is thus sometimes charged with generating many of the ills of modern society, including crime and family breakdown. Counselling has (...) become the universal remedy, replacing punishment and compulsion. The counsellor needs (a) a view of human nature (b) a conception of what is good for those possessing that nature. Constants in the first mean there cannot be too much variation in the second. Society is varied and plural, so the counsellor must be non‐judgemental, but while this means accepting the person, it does not necessarily mean endorsing the conduct. A distinction is drawn between therapeutic and philosophical counselling; the latter considers a problem, where the former focusses on the client, but both may fall short of offering a holistic view. Counselling may also exacerbate some of the problems of modern life by too readily accepting the conditions which cause them. Some ethical problems raised by confidentiality and informed consent are discussed. It is concluded that the counsellor must be tolerant, but not morally ambivalent, nor a relativist. (shrink)

A sign seen in the Philosophy Department of the University of Uppsala reads: A philosopher is one who will deliver a paper on the Hangman's Paradox at a conference on capital punishment. I might take as a supporting example of this tendency to focus on the irrelevant or the inappropriate a real paper to a medico-legal conference on organ transplants which argued that it would be morally justifiable to remove a heart from a healthy would-be heart donor. There are also (...) many amusing and intelligent papers on the ‘survival lottery’—a hypothetical arrangement which would allow individuals to be seized and cannibalised for their organs. These articles are light-hearted exercises in argumentative ingenuity, harmless in themselves, but they are offered in a world in which street children in Brazil are snatched for their kidneys, Chinese political dissidents have their organs seized officially at their place of execution, and poor peasants in Turkey and India sell their own kidneys or those of their relatives, for money. At the same time, the most frequently cited paper on the fraught topic of abortion is one in which pregnancy is compared to the plight of one unwillingly or unintentionally connected to a violinist who temporarily needs the link in order to survive. (shrink)

The present century has witnessed human crimes on an unprecedented scale. It has also seen the decline of ethics as a major element in higher education and as an academic study forming an important aspect of philosophy.

ABSTRACT There are three kinds of bonds between human beings: biological and natural; legal and artificial; social and voluntary. Marriage can be seen as an artificial and legal means of shifting the loose bonding of the third category of relationship into the deep and inescapable bonding of the first. The desire to create bonds of this type is widespread, but non‐bonding, too, has been recommended either as good in itself—a way of achieving peace of mind or personal emancipation through wider (...) relationships—or as necessary self‐denial for some higher cause. In the latter case, the bonds of family are seen as a positive good, a view shared, though for different reasons, by religious and political conservatives and by revisionist feminists. In contrast to this, three philosophical conceptions which would favour unbonding, or detachment from emotional ties, are categorised here as (a) the Stoic, (b) the Existentialist and (c) the Feminist. Within the Feminist ideal, it is radical, rather than liberal or socialist feminism that has most in common with Stoic or Existentialist ideals. These ideals are considered, together with various alternatives to marriage, and are judged not to override the need for deep personal bonds between human beings. These personal bonds of love and commitment are compared with the alternative bonds of religion and politics and it is concluded that, whatever forms they take, personal bonds have fundamental moral priority in the lives of human beings. (shrink)

Brenda Almond examines different countries' policies and ways of attempting to deal with AIDS, focusing on their positions in regard to rights.

This article examines the question of the existence of non-Adamic persons-both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial-in early modern Europe. More particularly it looks at how the existence of non-Adamites seriously called into question the credibility of the central themes of the Christian story of the creation, fall and redemption in Jesus Christ in early modern Europe. It analyses the impact on the Christian view of history caused by the discovery of the inhabitants of the New World, speculations about the polygenetic origins of (...) the human race, and discussions about the plurality of worlds. It concludes with some reflections on the monogenetic and polygenetic accounts of the origin of humans in a post-Darwinian context. (shrink)

Designed to bring the concepts and methods of philosophy to bear on practical concerns, the essays in this volume discuss the environment, personal relationships, war, terrorism and violence, social justice and medicine. Contributors emphasize the metaphysical and ethical dimensions.

Brenda Almond throws down a timely challenge to liberal consensus about personal relationships. She maintains that the traditional family is fragmenting in Western societies, causing serious social problems. She urges that we reconsider our attitudes to sex and reproduction in order to strengthen our most important social institution, the family.

This concise overview of the perception of Islam in eight of the most important German thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries allows a new and fascinating investigation of how these thinkers, within their own bodies of work, often espoused contradicting ideas about Islam and their nearest Muslim neighbors. Exploring a variety of 'neat compartmentalizations' at work in the representations of Islam, as well as distinct vocabularies employed by these key intellectuals, Ian Almond parses these vocabularies to examine the (...) importance of Islam in the very history of German thought. Almond further demonstrates the ways in which German philosophers such as Hegel, Kant, and Marx repeatedly ignored information about the Muslim world that did not harmonize with the particular landscapes they were trying to paint – a fact which in turn makes us reflect on what it means when a society possesses 'knowledge' of a foreign culture. (shrink)

La sociologie historique des sciences et des techniques est, davantage qu'une discipline, une pratique et une mise en oeuvre d'un ensemble varié de méthodes historiques et sociologiques croisées. Cet ouvrage propose donc une approche méthodologique et empirique de ce segment de recherche aux riches potentialités. Deux problématiques structurent le livre. Il s'agit tout d'abord d'enquêter sur la production et la circulation des concepts dans des contextes variés (marxisme, épistémè foucaldienne). Ensuite, parce que la sociologie historique des sciences et des techniques (...) offre une potentialité d'expressions théoriques larges, l'ouvrage avance la proposition d'une conceptualisation du rapport entre savoir et pouvoir autour d'un régime régulatoire des sciences et des techniques. Le cadrage par le droit, la professionnalisation de certaines activités savantes, les effets de la bureaucratisation et la mobilisation de valeurs spécifiques délimitent un ensemble de pratiques scientifiques et techniques déployé par et pour l'État. La mise à l'épreuve historique de ce schéma théorique permet de signaler, depuis le XVIe siècle, les grandes inflexions d'une science destinée à soutenir et organiser l'action rationnelle du pouvoir."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Cette premiere synthese integrale de la pensee politique d'Emile Chartier (1868-1951, plus connu sous le pseudonyme d'Alain) se propose, a nouveaux frais et de maniere soigneusement contextualisee, de redonner a Alain la place majeure et singuliere qui lui revient dans l'histoire recente des idees : celle d'un penseur citoyen, d'un liberal de gauche compagnon de route du radicalisme, dont l'anti-etatisme, l'individualisme democratique et le rationalisme laique entrent en resonance profonde avec les preoccupations contemporaines. Jerome Perrier entend ainsi rendre justice a (...) cet insatiable chroniqueur, dont l'oeuvre a pati d'avoir ete disseminee en plusieurs milliers de Propos dans la presse de son epoque. Contre le cliche de philosophe pour classes terminales qu'on a parfois cru devoir lui accoler en raison de son style sans jargon, il campe un Alain a la fois clair et profond, soucieux d'etre comprehensible par tous, qui s'inscrit aussi dans la tradition des moralistes francais allant de Montaigne a Camus. (shrink)

Si l'art n'est pas d'abord considéré en tant que production d'objets mais comme manière d'être au monde, intéressant tout homme et toute société, si la foi n'est pas considérée en tant qu'adhésion intellectuelle aux vérités de la foi, mais comme acte capable d'illuminer et transformer le monde, alors, loin d'être uniquement en rapport d'interaction, d'interdépendance, ou de ressemblance, l'art, la foi et le politique sont une unique réalité vivante. En ce sens, chacune des trois entités sera d'autant mieux comprise et (...) pensée qu'elle sera vue comme l'une des modalités de la même dynamique. Cette thèse se développe en trois étapes éclairant successivement les présupposés de sa démonstration, son effectivité dans la personne individuelle comme dans la société, enfin sa portée programmatique : le monde n'aura d'avenir qu'en assumant le ressort poétique qui le constitue et l'anime depuis le commencement. (shrink)

Le philosophe Alain est rarement considéré comme un penseur politique de premier plan. À tort. Ses réflexions en la matière, nombreuses, sont beaucoup plus profondes et autrement plus originales qu'on ne le croit généralement, et l'inventeur des Propos est bien davantage que le simple « philosophe du bonheur pour classe terminale » qu'on a coutume de présenter - et de citer, beaucoup plus que de lire. Circonstance aggravante, sa philosophie politique, quoiqu'authentiquement démocrate, apparaît dans le même temps viscéralement individualiste et (...) libérale ; ce qui s'avère être une tare rédhibitoire aux yeux de beaucoup d'intellectuels français, et ce qui a certainement joué un rôle non négligeable dans l'oubli presque complet dans lequel est tombé cet aspect de son oeuvre au XXe siècle, c'est-à-dire à l'époque tragique des totalitarismes et de l'État-roi. Or, c'est précisément cette dimension de la pensée d'Alain que nous entendons ici mettre en valeur, avec l'intime conviction que cette oeuvre politique a encore beaucoup de choses à nous apprendre et qu'elle mérite sans le moindre doute de figurer au panthéon des plus grands classiques de la pensée libérale. (shrink)

Ce livre a pour ambition de penser l'amour, d'en produire une pensée contemporaine. A cet effet, il articule deux axes a priori divergents. Il présente d'abord une lecture inédite des trois grandes pensées contemporaines sur l'amour : celles d'Emmanuel Levinas, de Jacques Lacan et d'Alain Badiou. Il développe ensuite une élaboration singulière qui traverse les très anciens enseignements du judaïsme biblique et talmudique. Il ne s'agit pas pour Jérôme Benarroch d'exposer une pensée historiquement reconnue du judaïsme sur le sujet, mais (...) de proposer une théorie de l'amour formulée dans le langage de la pensée contemporaine, à l'école de ses enjeux et questionnements. La méthode de cette élaboration consiste en un dialogue de la philosophie et de la psychanalyse avec ces divers et parfois paradoxaux enseignements traditionnels. Malgré leur hétérogénéité indiscutable, les pensées de Levinas, de Badiou et de Lacan partagent un même geste, qui apparaît presque comme une constante de la contemporanéité : le rejet de la figure de l'Un. Le livre soutient la thèse qu'en amour, l'Un n'est pas, mais qu'il doit advenir. Que l'unicité de chacun - de chaque sujet amoureux - advient par l'effort d'une construction éperdue de l'Un de l'amour. (shrink)

Euthanasie, gestation pour autrui, excision, prostitution, légalisation du cannabis, peine de mort, corrida, consommation de viande, immigration, fiscalité... Qu'ils prennent l'aspect de discordes ponctuelles ou de polémiques récurrentes, qu'ils donnent lieu à des délibérations policées ou à des explosions de violence, les désaccords moraux ne cessent d'irriguer, d'enflammer et de fissurer la sphère publique. En éveillant la stupéfaction ou l'indignation, ils entraînent dans leur sillage des collisions au sein d'un espace commun, d'intenses clivages entre des individus ou des groupes qui (...) se perçoivent tour à tour comme des contradicteurs, des adversaires ou des ennemis. Mais quelles sont donc les sources des désaccords moraux? Quelles sont les formes et les forces qui les animent? Quels sont les cheminements qui mènent à leur éclosion, leur extension ou leur extinction? Et comment remédier aux fractures qu'ils provoquent, sans pour autant imposer des dogmes (absolutisme) ni renoncer au discours critique (relativisme)? Telles sont les questions auxquelles ce livre s'efforcera de répondre. Il s'agira ici de conduire une enquête qui s'appuiera tout particulièrement sur la philosophie pragmatiste, les sciences cognitives et les sciences sociales. L'enjeu, - dès- lors, consistera à équilibrer deux exigences : d'une part, encadrer les désaccords moraux afin d'éviter l'infinie prolifération des conflits, et d'autre part, promouvoir leur expression publique dans une perspective résolument pluraliste."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Introduction -- Leibniz, historicism, and the plague of Islam -- Kant, Islam, and the preservation of boundaries -- Herder's Arab fantasies -- Keeping the Turks out of islam : Goethe's Ottoman plan -- Friedrich Schlegel and the emptying of Islam -- Hegel and the disappearance of Islam -- Marx the Moor -- Nietzsche's peace with Islam.

Encounters in the Arts, Literature, and Philosophy focuses on chance and scripted encounters as sites of tensions and alliances where new forms, ideas, meanings, interpretations, and theories can emerge. By moving beyond the realm of traditional hermeneutics, Jérôme Brillaud and Virginie Greene have compiled a volume that vitally illustrates how reading encounters represented in artefacts, texts, and films is a vibrant and dynamic mode of encountering and interpreting. With contributions from esteemed academics such as Christie McDonald, Pierre Saint-Amand, Susan Suleiman, (...) and Jean-Jacques Nattiez, this book is a multidisciplinary collaboration between scholars from a range of disciplines including philosophy, literature, musicology and film studies. It uses examples chiefly from French culture and covers the Early Modern era to the twentieth century while providing a thorough and representative array of theoretical and hermeneutical approaches. (shrink)