Ethical concepts are, or purport to be, normative. They make claims on us: they command, oblige, recommend, or guide. Or at least when we invoke them, we make claims on one another; but where does their authority over us - or ours over one another - come from? Christine Korsgaard identifies four accounts of the source of normativity that have been advocated by modern moral philosophers: voluntarism, realism, reflective endorsement, and the appeal to autonomy. She traces their history, showing (...) how each developed in response to the prior one and comparing their early versions with those on the contemporary philosophical scene. Kant's theory that normativity springs from our own autonomy emerges as a synthesis of the other three, and Korsgaard concludes with her own version of the Kantian account. Her discussion is followed by commentary from G. A. Cohen, Raymond Geuss, Thomas Nagel, and Bernard Williams, and a reply by Korsgaard. (shrink)

Beginning with liberalism's foundational idea of moral equality as the basis for treating people with equal concern and respect, Christine Koggel offers a modified account of what makes human beings equal and what is needed to achieve equality. Koggel utilizes insights from care ethics but switches the focus from care as a moral response within personal relationships to the broader network of relationships within which care is given or withheld. The result is an account of moral personhood and agency (...) that is richer than the view propounded by liberal theory and care ethics. This exciting and original work challenges theoretical resistance to the idea that relationships are relevant to an understanding of equality, and it provides an opening to a critical analysis of relationships and care that informs and transforms our understanding of what is needed to treat all people with equal concern and respect. (shrink)

How should we approach the daunting task of renewing the ideal of equality? In this book, Christine Sypnowich proposes a theory of equality centred on human flourishing or wellbeing. She argues that egalitarianism should be understood as seeking to make people more equal in the constituents of a good life. Inequality is a social ill because of the damage it does to human flourishing: unequal distribution of wealth can have the effect that some people are poorly housed, badly nourished, (...) ill-educated, unhappy or uncultured, among other things. When we seek to make people more equal our concern is not just resources or property, but how people fare under one distribution or another. Ultimately, the best answer to the question, equality of what?, is some conception of flourishing, since whatever policies or principles we adopt, it is flourishing that we hope will be more equal as a result of our endeavours. Sypnowich calls for both retrieval and innovation. What is to be retrieved is the ideal of equality itself, which is often assumed as a background condition of theories of justice, yet at the same time, dismissed as too homogenising, abstract and rigid a criterion for political argument. We must retrieve the ideal of equality as a central political principle. In doing so, she casts doubt on the value of focussing on cultural difference, and rejects the idea of neutrality that dominates contemporary political philosophy in favour of a view of the state as enabling the betterment of its citizens. ". (shrink)

Ökonomische und vorübergehende Migration stellen liberal-demokratische Gesellschaften vor die Herausforderung, traditionelle Ideale von Gesellschaft und demokratischer Inklusion zu überdenken. Christine Chwaszcza entwickelt einen moralischen Standpunkt für die ethische Bewertung von Fragen zu Immigration, sozialer und demokratischer Inklusion, der demokratietheoretische Überlegungen und Forderungen post-nationaler Gerechtigkeit in einer transnationalen Perspektive integriert. Das Buch wendet sich an Forscher und fortgeschrittene Studierenden der Politischen Philosophie, der Rechtsphilosophie und der Sozialwissenschaften.

In this paper, I set an aspect of what it is to live a flourishing life against the backdrop of neo liberal trends that continue to influence educational policy across the globe. The view I set out is in sharp contrast to any narrow assumption that education’s main task is the measurement of high performing individuals who will thus contribute to an economically viable society. Instead, I explore and argue for a conception of what constitutes a flourishing life that is (...) embedded in a more pragmatist analysis of what education may be. The argument begins with developing the centrality of embodiment to aesthetic sensibility and goes on to suggest how collective understanding of this within a community could constitute a sense of performance and thus contribute to the educational aim of developing a full and flourishing life. The argument is that this way of seeing life could have implications for educational practice, the role of the teacher and could help to reconfigure how education is experienced by the young. (shrink)

Einstellung effects designate the phenomenon where established routines can prevent people from finding other, possibly more efficient solutions. Here we investigate the mechanism behi...

The term “Socratic method” is so pervasive in education across the disciplines that it has largely lost its meaning, and it has lost its roots in its originator—the historical Socrates. In this article we draw from the original source, Plato's ancient dialogues, to understand the theory and principles behind the questioning used in Socratic method. A deep understanding of Socratic method is particularly timely now as nursing leaders call for increased use of theory‐based debriefing across the nursing curriculum. Socratic questioning (...) is ideally suited as a method for debriefing in nursing classrooms because of its ability to enhance critical thinking and self‐reflection of the learner and because of its basis in care for the learner through a learner‐centred design. We present an analysis of the Socratic method in Plato's works and provide an overview of the key Socratic principles and techniques. We illustrate these principles and techniques with examples of how Socratic teaching can be applied in the nursing classroom, and we address the challenges and rewards for nursing faculty implementing Socratic method. Learning about Socratic method directly from Plato's dialogues can provide a richer and more robust understanding of this key pedagogical technique and help nurse educators practice more intentional and informed Socratic questioning and debriefing. (shrink)

Il s'agit de contourner l'interdit kantien jeté sur l'intuition intellectuelle et de réhabiliter la connaissance de l'absolu, mais la transformation de l'intuition intellectuelle en extase n'est autre que la confrontation de la raison à l'extériorité et le refus de l'autofondation idéaliste. L'extase est avant tout celle de l'être divin : Dieu n'est libre que s'il court le risque de se perdre en créant un être véritablement différent de lui, capable de le nier ; elle est aussi celle de la conscience (...) humaine, d'abord à travers la mythologie, aliénation, puis guérison de l'homme dans son rapport au divin, enfin à travers la philosophie qui doit reconnaître le caractère extatique de la raison elle-même. A travers la structure extatique se jouent alors les rapports ambigus et féconds de Schelling avec la philosophie moderne ; s'il apparaît comme un précurseur des philosophes de l'existence, de la liberté humaine dans son indépendance vis-à-vis de l'absolu, c'est en vertu de l'absolu lui-même, qui refuse de laisser le dernier mot à une existence autofondatrice. (shrink)

The Richness of Art Education. Howard Cannatella. Rotterdam/Taipei, Sense Publishers 2008. Pp. 136.Pbk. £35.

The allocation of any scarce health care resource, especially a lifesaving resource, can create profound ethical and legal challenges. Liver transplant allocation currently is based upon urgency, a sickest-first approach, and does not utilize capacity to benefit. While urgency can be described reasonably well with the MELD system, benefit encompasses multiple dimensions of patients’ well-being. Currently, the balance between both principles is ill-defined. This survey with 502 participants examines how urgency and benefit are weighted by different stakeholders. Liver transplant patients (...) favored the sickest-first allocation, although all other groups tended to favor benefit. Criteria of a successful transplantation were a minimum survival of at least 1 year and recovery of functional status to being ambulatory and capable of all self-care. An individual delisting decision was accepted when the 1-year survival probability would fall below 50%. Benefit was found to be a critical variable that may also trigger the willingness to donate organs. The strong interest of stakeholder for successful liver transplants is inadequately translated into current allocation rules. (shrink)

Background The allocation of any scarce health care resource, especially a lifesaving resource, can create profound ethical and legal challenges. Liver transplant allocation currently is based upon urgency, a sickest-first approach, and does not utilize capacity to benefit. While urgency can be described reasonably well with the MELD system, benefit encompasses multiple dimensions of patients’ well-being. Currently, the balance between both principles is ill-defined. Methods This survey with 502 participants examines how urgency and benefit are weighted by different stakeholders. Results (...) Liver transplant patients favored the sickest-first allocation, although all other groups tended to favor benefit. Criteria of a successful transplantation were a minimum survival of at least 1 year and recovery of functional status to being ambulatory and capable of all self-care. An individual delisting decision was accepted when the 1-year survival probability would fall below 50%. Benefit was found to be a critical variable that may also trigger the willingness to donate organs. Conclusions The strong interest of stakeholder for successful liver transplants is inadequately translated into current allocation rules. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Virtual GalleryPhotographs are by Christine Chin, a student in the MFA program in Photography at Purdue University. Click for larger view View full resolution Click for larger view View full resolution Click for larger view View full resolution Click for larger view View full resolution Click for larger view View full resolution Click for larger view View full resolution Click for larger view View full resolution Click for (...) larger view View full resolution Click for larger view View full resolution Click for larger view View full resolutionCopyright © 2001 The Johns Hopkins University Press... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Response to Eva Alerby and Cecilia Ferm, “Learning Music: Embodied Experience in the Life-World”Christine A. BrownI was recently asked to settle a friendly debate between two college graduates. The first, my daughter's boyfriend, argued that someone with talent and motivation could become as creative a composer without formal musical training as with it. The other, my daughter, vigorously countered that while someone might compose well on one's own, (...) the result would not be as versatile or thoughtfully developed as it could be with good formal instruction. I saw the musical educations of the debaters reflected in their arguments. My daughter had accumulated fourteen years of formal instruction in violin, cello, voice, and dance and took part in high school choral, theatrical, and orchestral performances. Her studies continued into college and from time to time she performs in community theater. Her boyfriend was the only musically trained member of his family. At his own request he studied piano for five years, later channeling his musical energies into a rock group. Though he did not study music in college, he continues to play keyboard and guitar. Both agree that the ongoing debate between them illustrates the strong connection between musical training and musical valuing. The life-world of their experiences shaped their judgments of musical quality and left imprints on their views of what matters more, talent or training. I will return to this scenario later.I find solid points of agreement with Eva Alerby and Cecilia Ferm starting with their premise that music learning is most effective when taught within a context. While some students prefer learning in a linear, rule-oriented setting, more often than not a musical concept will be comprehended best if it is first experienced within a variety of works. Regarding extra-musical contexts, furthermore, recent evidence supporting the integration of subject areas at the elementary level appears to extend the boundaries of musical learning in a positive direction. Additionally, the authors' description of embodied musical learning holds great interest. Their argument that musical learning must be appropriated within the body resonates strongly within me as I reflect upon performing and teaching piano. Experience with beginning level adult pianists suggests to me that once the awkwardness of newly-learned movements fades with time and effort, students often discover a close interaction between their physical and conceptual knowledge of music. Of related interest is the authors' definition of musicality as taking embodied musical knowledge and making it one's own. This surpasses physical mastery of an instrument and describes a personal [End Page 208] and emotional investment in music. It is at this point in the essay that the recognizable link between mind, body, and emotion in music is most clear.Alongside these engaging ideas, however, are statements throughout the essay that invite further questions or comments. First among these is the statement that the knowledge resulting from learning is not always what was intended or planned. While this is often the case, elaboration upon modes of knowledge in question would help clarify the authors' ideas. Since knowledge takes a variety of forms, as the authors imply, these forms should be explored, defined, and applied to the process of teaching and learning music.Related to that suggestion is my response to the statement that the aim of music education is to produce musical knowledge. I am assuming that musical knowledge includes an age-appropriate blend of performance skill, reading ability, ear training, historical and cultural connections, basic theoretical and stylistic understanding, and acquaintance with creative processes. In many regions of our country, public arts education has been de-valued to the extent that we must convince administrators, parents, and sometimes students, of its importance. Until this situation improves, I must personally consider the aim of music education as producing, alongside musical knowledge, the desire for music as a lifelong pursuit, be it active or passive. Without this desire, musical knowledge gained often goes unused. Referring to my opening anecdote, my daughter is not participating in music while her less extensively trained boyfriend is. I know of several students like her who gained expertise on an instrument and who have now stopped playing for... (shrink)

In this interview Christine M. Korsgaard answers several questions on her particular interpretation of Kant's moral philosophy. More specifically, she dwells on the role of the noumenal/phenomenal distinction for a better understanding of Kant's idea of practical reason, as well as on the compatibility between Aristotelian and Kantian practical reason. In addition, she answers a couple of more general questions on the perspectives and challenges of contemporary ethical theory.

In contrast to the common notion of experiments as a means for testing theories, Science Studies currently emphasize the explorative character of experiments, thus elevating their systematic epistemological relevance. Consequently the experiment has become another challenge to Reichenbach′s distinction between discovery and justification, which has been valid in the philosophy of science for several decades. Repeatedly the experiment has served as an epistemological paradigm in philosophy. Engaging with recent positions in Science Studies the paper investigates Kant′s understanding of the use, (...) meaning, and function of the experiment, focusing on its specifications with the catch words touchstone and the art of attempt. The historical and systematic approach shows to what extent the experiment is situated between freedom and coercion. (shrink)

Christine Buci-Glucksmann’s The Madness of Vision is one of the most influential studies in phenomenological aesthetics of the baroque. Integrating the work of Merleau-Ponty with Lacanian psychoanalysis, Renaissance studies in optics, and twentieth-century mathematics, the author asserts the materiality of the body and world in her aesthetic theory. All vision is embodied vision, with the body and the emotions continually at play on the visual field. Thus vision, once considered a clear, uniform, and totalizing way of understanding the material (...) world, actually dazzles and distorts the perception of reality. In each of the nine essays that form The Madness of Vision Buci-Glucksmann develops her theoretical argument via a study of a major painting, sculpture, or influential visual image—Arabic script, Bettini’s “The Eye of Cardinal Colonna,” Bernini’s Saint Teresa and his 1661 fireworks display to celebrate the birth of the French dauphin, Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes, the Paris arcades, and Arnulf Rainer’s selfportrait, among others—and deftly crosses historical, national, and artistic boundaries to address Gracián’s El Criticón; Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo; the poetry of Hafiz, John Donne, and Baudelaire; as well as baroque architecture and Anselm Kiefer’s Holocaust paintings. In doing so, Buci-Glucksmann makes the case for the pervasive influence of the baroque throughout history and the continuing importance of the baroque in contemporary arts. (shrink)

In recent years, a number of authors have claimed that we can wrong each other simply by having certain beliefs—in particular sexist, racist, ableist etc. beliefs—about each other. So far, those who argue for the possibility of so-called doxastic wronging have tried to defend this idea by focusing on issues of doxastic control and coordination. In this paper, I raise a distinctly moral challenge against the possibility of doxastic wronging. I show that the idea of doxastic wronging runs afoul of (...) the liberal principle according to which all moral obligations have to be justifiable vis-à-vis those they presume to bind. In addition, I argue that there is a better way to account for the fundamental intuition driving the debate: instead of assuming the possibility of doxastic wronging and the morally grounded epistemic duty it implies, we should conceptualize what is morally problematic about bigoted beliefs in terms of the harm they constitute for their targets. (shrink)

There are various programmes currently advocated for ways in which children might encounter philosophy as an explicit part of their education. An analysis of these reveals the ways in which they are predicated on views of what constitutes philosophy. In the sense in which they are inquiry based, purport to encourage the pursuit of puzzlement and contribute towards creating democratic citizens, these programmes either implicitly rest on the work of John Dewey or explicitly use his work as the main warrant (...) for their approach. This article explores what might count as educational in the practice of children ‘doing’ philosophy, by reconsidering Dewey’s notion of ‘experience’. The educational desire to generate inquiry, thought and democracy is not lost, but a view that philosophy takes its impetus from wonder is introduced to help re-evaluate what might count as educational experience in a Deweyan sense. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Lebensweltliche Bedingungen können sich als Barrieren in Hinblick auf die Durchführung einer von den Patient*innen gewählten – beispielsweise onkologischen – Therapie erweisen und den Therapieerfolg gefährden. Solche lebensweltlichen Herausforderungen lassen sich als Schichten sozialer Vulnerabilität begreifen. In dieser Arbeit wird untersucht, ob es geboten ist, herausfordernde soziale Lebensbedingungen von Patient*innen systematisch bei Therapieentscheidungen zu berücksichtigen. Hierfür wird der Befähigungsansatz nach Martha Nussbaum herangezogen, der die Achtung der Patient*innenautonomie mit der Möglichkeit der Unterstützung durch Dritte zusammenbringt. Anschließend werden anhand des (...) Schichten-Konzeptes von Florencia Luna Vorschläge dafür formuliert, wie soziale Vulnerabilitäten in der Praxis erfasst werden könnten. Obwohl die Überlegungen zum vorliegenden Text aus Beobachtungen der onkologischen Behandlungssituation heraus entstanden sind, lassen sie sich auch auf andere Therapiefelder, die lange Behandlungsdauern mit regelmäßigen Anwesenheiten verlangen, übertragen. Die vorliegende Untersuchung kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass die ethische Pflicht besteht, lebensweltliche Faktoren in gemeinsame Therapieentscheidungen miteinzubeziehen und den Patient*innen ggf. Unterstützung anzubieten, um den Zugang zu der von ihnen gewählten Therapie zu ermöglichen. (shrink)

This article draws on data from various sources for 190 developed and developing nations and uses them to examine gender regimes, or forms of patriarchal structures, at the regional level. I argue for multiple, rather than single, measures of gender inequality and illustrate that using many inequality measures exposes a wider range of outcomes within the Global South than the North, also suggesting the inefficacy of this geographic dichotomy. Then I re-examine the outcomes with nations grouped into seven regions, showing (...) that each region has different variables that define their gender inequalities. Finally, I link gendered social institutions and implicitly gendered political-economic structures to gender-inequitable outcomes in six regions to reveal three different gender regimes across the regions. (shrink)

Philip Melanchthon, humanist and colleague of Martin Luther, is best known for his educational reforms, for which he earned the title Praeceptor Germaniae. His most influential form of philosophical writing was the academic oration, and this volume, first published in 1999, presents a large and wide-ranging selection of his orations and textbook prefaces translated into English. They set out his views on the distinction between faith and reason, the role of philosophy in education, moral philosophy, natural philosophy, astronomy and astrology, (...) and the importance of philosophy to a true Christian, as well as his views on Classical philosophical authorities such as Plato and Aristotle and on contemporaries such as Erasmus and Luther. Powerfully influential in their time, inspiring many Protestant students to study philosophy, mathematics and natural philosophy, they illuminate the relationship between Renaissance and Reformation thought. (shrink)

Critical thinking has come to be defined as and aligned with ‘good’ thinking. It connects to the value placed on rationality and agency and is woven into conceptions of what it means to become a person and hence deserve respect. Challenges to the supremacy of critical thinking have helped to provoke richer and fuller interpretations and critical thought is prevalent in talk of what it is to become a person and more fundamentally to educate. The capacity for critical thought may (...) indeed be one significant aspect of developed personhood; however an emphasis on critical thought as the main source of respect for persons raises a number of issues about what might therefore be excluded or neglected. A number of alternative views that try to retrieve a more ‘humanised’ view of how we exist in the world are examined and are found to suggest that human consciousness as a mark of personhood should be seen as rooted in bodily senses and a more aesthetic orientation towards the world that moves us away from critical thought and rationality as the single indicators of ‘good’ thinking. (shrink)

Critical thinking has come to be defined as and aligned with ‘good’ thinking. It connects to the value placed on rationality and agency and is woven into conceptions of what it means to become a person and hence deserve respect. Challenges to the supremacy of critical thinking have helped to provoke richer and fuller interpretations and critical thought is prevalent in talk of what it is to become a person and more fundamentally to educate. The capacity for critical thought may (...) indeed be one significant aspect of developed personhood; however an emphasis on critical thought as the main source of respect for persons raises a number of issues about what might therefore be excluded or neglected. A number of alternative views that try to retrieve a more ‘humanised’ view of how we exist in the world are examined and are found to suggest that human consciousness as a mark of personhood should be seen as rooted in bodily senses and a more aesthetic orientation towards the world that moves us away from critical thought and rationality as the single indicators of ‘good’ thinking. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: References.

This paper critically examines some assumptions involved in determining the nature of the relationships and work that constitute a school as a community dedicated to learning and knowledge. Rather than arguing from first principles, the paper assumes that respect for other people as ends is preferable to seeing individuals in terms of their function or status; and it argues, in particular, for the reinstatement of a sense of agency for teachers that seems to have been lost in recent education initiatives (...) in the UK. Following Heidegger's notion of authenticity and Gadamer's emphasis on the process of interpretation to precipitate understanding, the paper argues that professional knowledge and understanding is best generated in relation to others, and thus the ethical basis for schools as communities should focus less on individuals and more on the value of persons in relationships of a distinctive kind. (shrink)

L’Angleterre du xviie siècle connut un intense bouillonnement politique et religieux dont le paroxysme se situe au milieu du siècle, lors de la première révolution anglaise. De profondes aspirations égalitaires s’exprimèrent au sein de certains groupes. Les sectes dissidentes qui émergèrent alors offrirent à des individus, jusque-là condamnés au silence par leur position sociale, la possibilité de prendre la parole et la plume pour s’exprimer publiquement. Les femmes furent nombreuses à se sa...

Alors que les travaux sur les cultures vestimentaires se sont multipliés et que les recherches historiques sur les cours aux époques médiévale et moderne sont fort nombreuses, de manière assez surprenante l’historiographie sur le vêtement de cour en Europe est restée peu fournie. Le colloque international tenu en 2009 au château de Versailles sur les « Cultures matérielles, cultures visuelles du costume dans les cours européennes (1400-1815) » se donnait donc pour objectif, sous la direction...

Die Vermittlung ethischer Kompetenzen ist wesentlicher Bestandteil in berufsqualifizierenden und postgraduellen Studiengängen. Dabei werden praktisch-ethische Problemlösungskompetenzen, je nach Studiengang aber auch die forschungsethische Betrachtung von Studien thematisiert. Die Überprüfung dieser ethischen Kompetenzen stellt sich als Herausforderung dar. Das schriftliche oder mündliche Abfragen von Lehrinhalten greift zu kurz, da somit lediglich Wissen, jedoch nicht Fertigkeiten oder gar Haltung erfasst werden können.Bei der Reakkreditierung des Masterstudiengangs Pflegewissenschaft an der Universität Witten/Herdecke wurde dieser Herausforderung mit der Umsetzung eines für die postgraduelle Ausbildung innovativen (...) Prüfungsformats begegnet. Für das Modul „Ethik in der Pflegepraxis und -forschung“ wurde ein Format ausgearbeitet, welches sich an den „Objective Structured Clinical Examinations“ orientiert und somit die erworbenen Fertigkeiten und Haltungen der Studierenden mit einbezieht. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, wie das OSCE-Prüfungsformat konzipiert und eine Adaption erfolgt ist. (shrink)

Background Teaching ethical competencies is an essential component of professional and postgraduate curricula. Developing practical–ethical problem-solving competencies as well as appraising program-specific studies and related research ethics are topics typically addressed. However, assessment of these ethical competencies poses a challenge. Written or oral assessment formats addressing relevant learning objectives is mainly limited to knowledge testing alone, often not capturing relevant skills or attitudes pertinent to those competencies. Aim During the reaccreditation of the masters of science program in Nursing Science at (...) Witten/Herdecke University, this challenge was addressed by implementation of an innovative examination format for postgraduate education. Procedure For the module “Ethics in nursing practice and research” a format based on the Objective Structured Clinical Examination format was developed. This assessment method incorporates evaluation of acquired skills and attitudes of nursing students. Conclusion The article demonstrates development and adaption of the OSCE format for this purpose. (shrink)

In spite of strengthened financial regulation, ethical concern continues about the promotion and distribution of financial services in Britain, including savings and investment products. Greater ethical attention needs to be paid to products, price, promotion and distribution. The authors are all faculty members of the School of Management and Finance, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. Correspondence should be addressed to Dr Ennew. Alison McGregor gratefully acknowledges funding provided by the Association of British Insurers.

In spite of strengthened financial regulation, ethical concern continues about the promotion and distribution of financial services in Britain, including savings and investment products. Greater ethical attention needs to be paid to products, price, promotion and distribution. The authors are all faculty members of the School of Management and Finance, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. Correspondence should be addressed to Dr Ennew. Alison McGregor gratefully acknowledges funding provided by the Association of British Insurers.

Cohen Kadosh & Walsh (CK&W) present convincing evidence indicating the existence of notation-specific numerical representations in parietal cortex. We suggest that the same conclusions can be drawn for a particular type of numerical representation: the representation of time. Notation-dependent representations need not be limited to number but may also be extended to other magnitude-related contents processed in parietal cortex (Walsh 2003).

Le sens et la fonction de la Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen furent l’objet de longues et nombreuses controverses. Parmi les différentes approches du texte, juridiques ou sociologiques, nous retiendrons la méthode conçue à propos de Ténoncé performatif par le philosophe anglais J. L. Austin, car elle nous permet de découvrir sur quelles procédures conventionnelles s’appuie la bonne réception de la Déclaration, à quelles règles de conduite existantes, les constituants ont-ils fait appel. Ces conventions, en l’occurrence l’acte (...) de serment et de promesse, apparaissent dans le texte à l’état d’indices, cette dimension étant masquée par l’intensité de la rupture que la Déclaration instaure au plan politique. Ce décodage des intentions des constituants nécessite le recours à une analyse des contextes: contexte socio-historique immédiat et environnement conceptuel.The meaning and the function of the Declaration of the rights of Men and Citizen has been discussed for a long time. We prefer, among different lectures of the text, the method contrived for an explanation of performative utterances, by the english philosopher J. L. Austin: it can enable us to discover on what convention a good reception of the Declaration is based, what rules of conducts the " constituants " have choosed. These conventions - oath and promise - appear in the text as mere indications. The intensity of the political rupture hide them. To decode the " constituante " intentions, a contextual analysis is needed, that is both immediate socio-historical context and conceptual context. (shrink)

Sensitivity to others’ emotional signals is an important factor for social interaction. While many studies of emotional reactivity focus on facial emotional expressions, signals such as pupil dilation which can indicate arousal, may also affect observers. For example, observers’ pupils dilate when viewing someone with dilated pupils, so-called pupillary contagion. Yet it is unclear how pupil size and emotional expression interact as signals. Further, examining individual differences in emotional reactivity to others can shed light on its mechanisms and potential outcomes. (...) In the current study, adults’ (N = 453) pupil size was assessed while they viewed images of the eye region of individuals varying in emotional expression (neutral, happy, sad, fearful, angry) and pupil size (large, medium, small). Participants showed pupillary contagion regardless of the emotional expression. Individual differences in demographics (gender, age, socioeconomic status) and psychosocial factors (anxiety, depression, sleep problems) were also examined, yet the only factor related to pupillary contagion was socioeconomic status, with higher socioeconomic status predicting less pupillary contagion for emotionally-neutral stimuli. The results suggest that while pupillary contagion is a robust phenomenon, it can vary meaningfully across individuals. (shrink)