The interventionist account of causation offers a criterion to distinguish causes from non-causes. It also aims at defining various desirable properties of causal relationships, such as specificity, proportionality and stability. Here we apply an information-theoretic approach to these properties. We show that the interventionist criterion of causation is formally equivalent to non-zero specificity, and that there are natural, information-theoretic ways to explicate the distinction between potential and actual causal influence. We explicate the idea that the description of causes should be (...) proportional to that of their effects. Then we draw a distinction between two ideas in the existing literature, the range of invariance of a causal relationship and its stability. The range of invariance is related to specificity and range of causal values. Stability concerns the effect of additional variables on the relationship between some focal pair of cause and effect variables. We show how to distinguish and measure the direct influence of background variables on the effect variable, and their influence on the relationship between the focal cause and the effect variable. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the information-theoretic approach, and offer prospects for complementary approaches. (shrink)

Excerpt: How does subjective well-being change over the life course and what concepts do people draw upon when they answer questions about their well-being? Does well-being indeed change or are people endowed with a set level of happiness around which their well-being fluctuates? These are some of the questions this paper will address with a focus on three domains of life: family, work, and health.

En expliquant comment les forces de l’ordre se dotent d’uniformes spécifiques au cours du xixe siècle, il s’agit de comprendre la signification de cet objet. Au-delà de l’utilité pratique du costume, qui peut faire débat, policiers et gendarmes affichent une prestance militaire qui renforce leur prestige. Mais ils montrent aussi qu’ils travaillent en toute transparence, en assumant leurs actes et en se plaçant au service du public. Ils prouvent enfin leur valeur en engageant des dépenses vestimentaires qui deviennent un gage (...) de respectabilité. S’il constitue un enjeu symbolique fort, l’uniforme évolue dans le sens d’une plus grande simplicité fonctionnelle au cours du xixe siècle, s’adaptant dans une certaine mesure à la mode masculine. (shrink)

Ce volume réunit 10 articles en italien, à une exception française près, issus pour la plupart d’un colloque de 2015 et paraissant dans une série philosophique. Il y a fort peu de coquilles dans cet ouvrage soigné (68 : *ἱδιότητος, 226 : *Alres, 228 : *εἴληκεν, 244 : *Oppenraay, 267 : *aniumalium). Il se signale par son orientation pédagogique, conforme au cadre de la rencontre, qui était une journée de formation : la plupart des articles sont des synthèses, proposées par (...) des spécialistes qui... (shrink)

In this paper, we apply the perspective of intra-organismal ecology by investigating a family of ecological models suitable to describe a gene therapy to a particular metabolic disorder, the adenosine deaminase deficiency (ADA-SCID). The gene therapy is modeled as the prospective ecological invasion of an organ (here, bone marrow) by genetically modified stem cells, which then operate niche construction in the cellular environment by releasing an enzyme they synthesize. We show that depending on the chosen order (a choice that cannot (...) be made on \textit{a priori} assumptions), different kinds of dynamics are expected, possibly leading to different therapeutic strategies. This drives us to discuss several features of the extension of ecology to intra-organismal ecology. (shrink)

Several authors have argued that causes differ in the degree to which they are ‘specific’ to their effects. Woodward has used this idea to enrich his influential interventionist theory of causal explanation. Here we propose a way to measure causal specificity using tools from information theory. We show that the specificity of a causal variable is not well-defined without a probability distribution over the states of that variable. We demonstrate the tractability and interest of our proposed measure by measuring the (...) specificity of coding DNA and other factors in a simple model of the production of mRNA. (shrink)

If European metropolises witnessed the development, throughout the 19th century, of various forms of concentrationary assistance and radical isolation through penal colonies, colonial space was the site of an even more explicit formulation and experimentation with the creation and the exclusion of of an undesirable human surplus, notably in South Asia, where the social system of castes could provide powerful ideological foundations for the colonial thinking on exclusion. This article seeks to illustrate this by examining the creation of the category (...) of « criminal tribes » in India, during the last third of the 19th century. (shrink)

A causal approach to biological information is outlined. There are two aspects to this approach: information as determining a choice between alternative objects and information as determining the construction of a single object. The first aspect has been developed in earlier work to yield a quantitative measure of biological information that can be used to analyze biological networks. This article explores the prospects for a measure based on the second aspect and suggests some applications for such a measure. These two (...) aspects are not suggested to exhaust all the facets of biological information. (shrink)

Cet article documente la pratique du plan dans les relations entre hommes, à savoir ces rencontres rapides, à but sexuel principalement et en général non répétées. Le matériel mobilisé résulte de trente entretiens semi-directifs. Le plan correspond souvent à une dissociation marquée entre le courant sensuel et le courant tendre, au sens freudien, et présente donc un intérêt pour approfondir la compréhension de cette dualité. L’article observe les prises de contact virtuelles, les lieux des plans et la possibilité de penser, (...) ou de ne pas penser, le plan, d’en refouler le souvenir. Les affects éprouvés dans la rencontre de l’autre comme l’absence d’affect ( désaffectation ) sont alors analysés aux côtés de la question de la sociabilité et des impressions d’inquiétante étrangeté. (shrink)

In 1952, Heinrich Scholz published a question in The Journal of Symbolic Logic asking for a characterization of spectra, i.e., sets of natural numbers that are the cardinalities of finite models of first order sentences. Günter Asser in turn asked whether the complement of a spectrum is always a spectrum. These innocent questions turned out to be seminal for the development of finite model theory and descriptive complexity. In this paper we survey developments over the last 50-odd years pertaining to (...) the spectrum problem. Our presentation follows conceptual developments rather than the chronological order. Originally a number theoretic problem, it has been approached by means of recursion theory, resource bounded complexity theory, classification by complexity of the defining sentences, and finally by means of structural graph theory. Although Scholz' question was answered in various ways, Asser's question remains open. (shrink)

In this paper, we discuss the perspective of intra-organismal ecology by investigating a family of ecological models. We consider two types of models. First order models describe the population dynamics as being directly affected by ecological factors (here understood as nutrients, space, etc). They might be thought of as analogous to Aristotelian physics. Second order models describe the population dynamics as being indirectly affected, the ecological factors now affecting the derivative of the growth rate (that is, the population acceleration), possibly (...) through an impact on non-genetically inherited factors. Second order models might be thought of as analogous to Galilean physics. In the joint paper, we apply these ideas to a situation of gene therapy. (shrink)

In recent years, scholars have shown the fruitfulness of linking Peirce’s speculative rhetoric with the rhetorical tradition—which can be broadly construed as the art, time and again rediscovered and refined, of rendering discourses eloquent and persuasive. They have suggested many ways in which the historical development of rhetoric sheds light on the third branch of Peirce’s semiotic and further pointed out many contributions Peirce makes in turn to the field of rhetoric. However, with the notable exception of Colapietro, these authors (...) have focused almost exclusively on questions of method and discovery. They have... (shrink)

Les langues de bois ne sont pas l’apanage des systèmes autoritaires et totalitaires. Les sociétés démocratiques et ouvertes n’échappent pas, loin s’en faut, au phénomène. Les professionnels de la « com », sous l’influence de processus de civilisations dont le principal effet consiste à produire des sociétés de plus en plus policées, élaborent à la demande de leurs donneurs d’ordre des dispositifs discursifs et des méthodes visant à réduire les risques propres à la communication. Privilégiant une conception instrumentale de la (...) communication, le destin des « communicants » se réduirait-il à transformer leur activité en principale arme contre les valeurs démocratiques et humanistes portées par la communication ? Pour dépasser la com et libérer la communication de toutes les langues de bois qui l’emprisonnent, il convient de transformer les conditions pratiques de l’exercice de ces professionnels en renforçant leur rôle de médiateur.« Doublespeak » in its different forms is by no means the sole preserve of authoritarian or totalitarian regime: open democratic societies are equally afflicted. Professionals in « communication », working under the influence of processes of civilisation whose main effect is to produce increasingly policed societies, receive commissions to develop patterns and methods of discourse whose aim is to minimise the risks inherent to communication itself. In treating communication primarily as an instrument, these « communicators » may well find that their activities are turning into a particularly lethal weapon against the democratic and humanist values that are inherent to communication. To move beyond this subverted form of communication and liberate it from the many forms of doublespeak that have imprisoned it, the practical conditions in which they exercise their profession need to be transformed by reinforcing their role as mediators. (shrink)

La justice dont il est question ici est la justice dans l’échange ou justice commutative selon la tradition issue d’Aristote. Cette justice qui s’exprime dans le juste prix s’établit à partir d’une discussion entre les propriétaires prenant part à l’échange. Cette discussion relève d’une logique de l’analogie. Pour les parties dans un échange, la justice n’est pas une égalité mais seulement une qualité entre personnes vers laquelle on se dirige par comparaison avec une égalité entre quantités.

La justice dont il est question ici est la justice dans l’échange ou justice commutative selon la tradition issue d’Aristote. Cette justice qui s’exprime dans le juste prix s’établit à partir d’une discussion entre les propriétaires prenant part à l’échange. Cette discussion relève d’une logique de l’analogie. Pour les parties dans un échange, la justice n’est pas une égalité mais seulement une qualité entre personnes vers laquelle on se dirige par comparaison avec une égalité entre quantités.

In this article, the authors, as researchers, are part of a clinical approach to psychoanalytic orientation in education sciences, questioning their research approach during an investigation on the expulsion from classrooms in secondary school in France. Trying to compare themselves to different types of collaborative research, they analyse the modalities of relationship they tried to implement during this research ‘with’ subjects, including teenagers students they have interviewed.

En dépit d’obstacles épistémologiques et idéologiques dont le présent article rappelle succinctement la genèse, les rapports entre droit et religion dans l’Occident médiéval ont été abondamment explorés, au travers, notamment, d’études consacrées à la science canonique, aux procédures ecclésiastiques et aux qualifications juridiques. En revanche, les limites, les zones de contact et les points de passage entre ces deux régimes de véridiction et de normativité que sont le droit et la religion, ont été laissés dans l’ombre. Sans prétendre couvrir le (...) champ d’une enquête aussi titanesque, cet article entend pointer quelques-uns des problèmes qui se posent dès que l’on aborde en historien les rapports que l’Église catholique – forme institutionnelle par excellence de la religion chrétienne – a entretenus avec le droit, et indiquer quelles sont les pistes actuellement empruntées dans ce sens. (shrink)

The text focuses on reflecting on the role of modern university in a man intellectual development, starting from Nietzsche’s ideas. By drawing up some of the main methodological and philosophical concepts of the German philosopher, the text highlights a series of aspects on the Humboldian nature of current universities – a state of tension under the political, economic and social factors. Thus, the classic concepts of Bildung and Kultur specific to the XIX-century University are analyzed in relation with the crisis (...) that marked the Prussian state of Bismarck period. Higher education being available to the masses is a current problem Nietzsche didn’t avoid to call „savageness” and „decline” of the higher educational system. The purpose of the text is to point out if Nietzsche’s ideas can be still applied nowadays. (shrink)

This is an English translation of the French editor's preface to The Evolution of the Problem of Freedom, which is the first course Bergson taught as the chair in the “History of Modern Philosophy” at the Coll è ge de France.

This research examines how the fit between employees moral development and the ethical work climate of their organization affects employee attitudes. Person-organization fit was assessed by matching individuals' level of cognitive moral development with the ethical climate of their organization. The influence of P-O fit on employee attitudes was assessed using a sample of 304 individuals from 73 organizations. In general, the findings support our predictions that fit between personal and organizational ethics is related to higher levels of commitment and (...) job satisfaction and lower levels of turnover intent. Ethical P-O fit was related to higher levels of affective commitment across all three ethical climate types. Job satisfaction was only associated with ethical P-O fit for one of the three P-O fit variables and turnover intentions were significantly associated with two of the ethical P-O fit variables. The most consistent effect was found for the Conventional - Caring fit variable, which was significantly related to all three attitudes assessed. The weakest effect was found for the Preconventional - Instrumental fit variable, which was only predictive of affective commitment. The pattern of findings and implications for practice and future research are discussed. (shrink)

On the basis of neuroiinaging studies, Posner & Raichle summarily report that the prefrontal cortex is involved in executive functioning and attention. In contrast to that superficial view, we briefly describe a testable model of the kinds of representations that are stored in prefrontal cortex, which, when activated, are expressed via plans, actions, thematic knowledge, and schemas.

We study the extension of dependence logic \ by a majority quantifier \ over finite structures. We show that the resulting logic is equi-expressive with the extension of second-order logic by second-order majority quantifiers of all arities. Our results imply that, from the point of view of descriptive complexity theory, \\) captures the complexity class counting hierarchy. We also obtain characterizations of the individual levels of the counting hierarchy by fragments of \\).

Running head: Implicit sequence learning ABSTRACT Can we learn without awareness? Although this issue has been extensively explored through studies of implicit learning, there is currently no agreement about the extent to which knowledge can be acquired and projected onto performance in an unconscious way. The controversy, like that surrounding implicit memory, seems to be at least in part attributable to unquestioned acceptance of the unrealistic assumption that tasks are process-pure, that is, that a given task exclusively involves either implicit (...) or explicit knowledge. (shrink)

Social Catholic criticisms of Frédéric Bastiat’s thinking, notably Charles Périn’s, clarify the link between the labour theory of value and the demands for social justice. Claiming that Bastiat’s theory of value rests on a sophism, Périn rejects his view that competition is the solution to the social question. Contrary to Bastiat, indeed, he accepts the labor theory of value and apparently makes it a standard of justice: according to him, rents sanction an injustice. Social Catholics, particularly René de La Tour (...) du Pin, follow in his tracks, insisting that a specific course must be taken so as to set right the injustice of rents — the course of what will be called furtherly ‘social justice’.Les critiques portées par les catholiques sociaux à la doctrine de Frédéric Bastiat, notamment celles de Charles Périn, permettent de comprendre le lien qui unit la théorie de la valeur travail et l’exigence de justice sociale. Périn affirme que la théorie de la valeur de Bastiat repose sur un sophisme et repousse donc sa réponse à la question sociale, la concurrence. Il a adopté en effet, au contraire de Bastiat, la théorie de la valeur travail et l’a érigée, semble-t-il, en critère de justice : la rente consacre, à ses yeux, une injustice. A sa suite, les catholiques sociaux, exemplairement, René de La tour du Pin, affirmeront qu’il faut mener une action spécifique pour corriger l’injustice de la rente et l’appelleront justice sociale. (shrink)

According to the classical paradigm of the judicial act, the courthouse is a temple and the hearing is a ceremony. Even when secularized, justice rests upon a ritual and a ceremonial which confer on it both its sacredness and its authority. The origins of this staging are rooted in myth, religion and cosmogony which stem from the mediation of symbols. Through this ornamentation, the paternal figure is made present and guarantees, in a kind of irrational way, the authority of the (...) institution. Since the mid nineties, the judicial institution has been emancipated from its staging. The modern goals of functionality and transparency of public services have progressively led to the abandoning of the sacredness of the judicial act, thus threatening its symbolic function. The purpose of this contribution is to highlight, through a semiotic approach, the dialectic opposing modernity and the authority of the judicial institution. (shrink)

Saffran, Newport, and Aslin (1996a) found that human infants are sensitive to statistical regularities corresponding to lexical units when hearing an artificial spoken language. Two sorts of segmentation strategies have been proposed to account for this early word‐segmentation ability: bracketing strategies, in which infants are assumed to insert boundaries into continuous speech, and clustering strategies, in which infants are assumed to group certain speech sequences together into units (Swingley, 2005). In the present study, we test the predictions of two computational (...) models instantiating each of these strategies i.e., Serial Recurrent Networks: Elman, 1990; and Parser: Perruchet & Vinter, 1998 in an experiment where we compare the lexical and sublexical recognition performance of adults after hearing 2 or 10 min of an artificial spoken language. The results are consistent with Parser’s predictions and the clustering approach, showing that performance on words is better than performance on part‐words only after 10 min. This result suggests that word segmentation abilities are not merely due to stronger associations between sublexical units but to the emergence of stronger lexical representations during the development of speech perception processes. (shrink)

This study examined narrative identity in a group of 81 patients with schizophrenia and 50 healthy controls through the recall of self-defining memories. The results indicated that patients’ narratives were less coherent and elaborate than those of controls. Schizophrenia patients were severely impaired in the ability to make connections with the self and extract meaning from their memories, which significantly correlated with illness duration. In agreement with earlier research, patients exhibited an early reminiscence bump. Moreover, the period of the reminiscence (...) bump, which is highly relevant for identity development, was characterized by fewer achievements and more life-threatening event experiences, compared with controls. A negative correlation was found between negative symptoms, number of self-event connections and specificity of narratives. Our results suggest that schizophrenia patients have difficulties to organize and extract meaning from their past experiences in order to create coherent personal narratives. (shrink)