Le § 9 de la Krisis expose les étapes : idéalisation géométrique, mathématisation indirecte des qualités, induction savante, opérations aveugles du calcul. Une enquête historique confirme-t-elle le récit de Husserl ?

Hume’s discussion of space, time, and mathematics at T 1.2 appeared to many earlier commentators as one of the weakest parts of his philosophy. From the point of view of pure mathematics, for example, Hume’s assumptions about the infinite may appear as crude misunderstandings of the continuum and infinite divisibility. I shall argue, on the contrary, that Hume’s views on this topic are deeply connected with his radically empiricist reliance on phenomenologically given sensory images. He insightfully shows that, working within (...) this epistemological model, we cannot attain complete certainty about the continuum but only at most about discrete quantity. Geometry, in contrast to arithmetic, cannot be a fully exact science. A number of more recent commentators have offered sympathetic interpretations of Hume’s discussion aiming to correct the older tendency to dismiss this part of the Treatise as weak and confused. Most of these commentators interpret Hume as anticipating the contemporary idea of a finite or discrete geometry. They view Hume’s conception that space is composed of simple indivisible minima as a forerunner of the conception that space is a discretely (rather than continuously) ordered set. This approach, in my view, is helpful as far as it goes, but there are several important features of Hume’s discussion that are not sufficiently appreciated. I go beyond these recent commentators by emphasizing three of Hume’s most original contributions. First, Hume’s epistemological model invokes the “confounding” of indivisible minima to explain the appearance of spatial continuity. Second, Hume’s sharp contrast between the perfect exactitude of arithmetic and the irremediable inexactitude of geometry reverses the more familiar conception of the early modern tradition in pure mathematics, according to which geometry (the science of continuous quantity) has its own standard of equality that is independent from and more exact than any corresponding standard supplied by algebra and arithmetic (the sciences of discrete quantity). Third, Hume has a developed explanation of how geometry (traditional Euclidean geometry) is nonetheless possible as an axiomatic demonstrative science possessing considerably more exactitude and certainty that the “loose judgements” of the vulgar. (shrink)

Inventeur du néologisme « déontologie », le philosophe anglais Jeremy Bentham lui donnait pour but de fixer ce qui doit être sous l'égide du principe de l'utilité, de concilier les intérêts privés et les intérêts publics. Emmanuelle de Champs explore la branche politique de la déontologie benthamienne, l'art du législateur, celui du droit constitutionnel, et la dimension morale de l'utilitarisme, qu'elle juge centrale dans le système philosophique benthamien. Elle montre que la théorie du langage et de la connaissance est une (...) véritable condition de possibilité de la réflexion politique: il s'agit de forger les outils nécessaires à l'élaboration d'une morale de l'action publique. Loin d'être le produit d'une conversion tardive à la démocratie, la réflexion constitutionnelle habite l'œuvre de Bentham dès le début des années 1770. Au cours des années, elle se nourrit des Révolutions américaine et française, de la montée des revendications radicales en Grande-Bretagne, puis des révolutions libérales du sud de l'Europe et d'Amérique latine au début du XIXe siècle. Etudiée dans son contexte, la déontologie politique benthamienne s'inscrit dans un dialogue avec Montesquieu et Blackstone, Burke et Paine, Mill et Macaulay. Elle apparaît alors comme une étape majeure dans l'histoire des idées politiques occidentales. Pages de début Note concernant les citations et les traductions Introduction Les principes de la science de la législation Premiers écrits politiques, 1776 Éléments d'une théorie constitutionnelle La France révolutionnaire, laboratoire constitutionnel L'engagement radical La genèse d'une constitution universelle Le Constitutional Code, pouvoir, intérêts et bonheur ConclusionRemerciements Bibliographie Index des noms de personnes et de pays Pages de fin. (shrink)

The controversy between Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry arose new philosophical and scientific insights which were relevant to the later development of natural science. Here we want to consider Poincaré and Helmholtz’s positions as two of the most important and original ones who contributed to the subsequent development of the epistemology of natural sciences. Based in these conceptions, we will show that the role of philosophy is still important for some aspects of science.

The aim of this paper is to argue that there existed relevant interactions between mechanics and geometry during the first half of the nineteenth century, following a path that goes from Gauss to Riemann through Jacobi. By presenting a rich historical context we hope to throw light on the philosophical change of epistemological categories applied by these authors to the fundamental principles of both disciplines. We intend to show that presentations of the changing status of the principles of mechanics as (...) a mere epiphenomenon of the emergence of non-Euclidean geometries are inaccurate, that the relations between the two disciplines were richer than what is usually considered in the literature. These claims will be based on historical and philosophical arguments, starting from the fact that disciplinary boundaries at the time were not rigid as we are used today. It is widely known that the main figures we target worked in different areas, which is a first piece of evidence for the plausibility of our main thesis. (shrink)

The “common notions” prefacing the Elements of Euclid are a very peculiar set of axioms, and their authenticity, as well as their actual role in the demonstrations, have been object of debate. In the first part of this essay, I offer a survey of the evidence for the authenticity of the common notions, and conclude that only three of them are likely to have been in place at the times of Euclid, whereas others were added in Late Antiquity. In the (...) second part of the essay, I consider the meaning and uses of the common notions in Greek mathematics, and argue that they were originally conceived in order to axiomatize a theory of equivalence in geometry. I also claim that two interpolated common notions responded to different epistemic needs and regulated diagrammatic inferences. (shrink)

À mesure que le temps passe, la pertinence des démarches et des analyses de Raymond Aron se confirme au lieu de s'estomper. Parce qu'il a été le commentateur inlassable des événements, parce que ses livres ont souvent répondu à des situations bien différentes de la nôtre, on a pu penser que son oeuvre, à l'exception bien sûr des grands ouvrages théoriques, perdrait de son actualité en raison de l'éloignement des circonstances qui lui avaient donné naissance. C'est le contraire qui se (...) produit. C'est de nous et donc à nous qu'Aron parle encore. À travers la forme politique propre à l'Europe, la journée d'études du 7 juin 2011, dont est issu cet ouvrage, s'était proposée de dégager la science politique que Raymond Aron nous lègue pour mieux comprendre la condition humaine et la situation présente des pays européens. (shrink)

Poincaré’s conventionalism has been interpreted in many writings as a philosophical position emerged by reflection on certain scientific problems, such as the applicability of geometry to physical space or the status of certain scientific principles. In this paper I would like to consider conventionalism as a philosophical position that emerged from Poincaré’s scientific practice. But not so much from dealing with scientific problems, as from the use of two specific methodologies proper to modern mathematics and the modern natural sciences: methodological (...) structuralism and the hypothetical-deductive method—thus, as a philosophical position which emerged from a way (or rather, two ways) ofdoingscience. With this approach, I try to deepen the analysis of connections between Poincaré’s scientific practice and his philosophy. (shrink)

ArgumentThe Fourth Postulate of Euclid’s Elements states that all right angles are equal. This principle has always been considered problematic in the deductive economy of the treatise, and even the ancient interpreters were confused about its mathematical role and its epistemological status. The present essay reconsiders the ancient testimonies on the Fourth Postulate, showing that there is no certain evidence for its authenticity, nor for its spuriousness. The paper also considers modern mathematical interpretations of this postulate, pointing out various anachronisms. (...) It further discusses the validity of the ancient proof by superposition of the Fourth Postulate. Finally, the article proposes an interpretation of the history of the concept of angle in Greek geometry between Euclid and Apollonius, and puts forward a conjecture on the interpolation of the Fourth Postulate in the Hellenistic age. The essay contributes to a general reassessment of the axiomatic foundations of ancient mathematics. (shrink)

We use the notion of polar duality from convex geometry and the theory of Lagrangian planes from symplectic geometry to construct a fiber bundle over ellipsoids that can be viewed as a quantum-mechanical substitute for the classical symplectic phase space. The total space of this fiber bundle consists of geometric quantum states, products of convex bodies carried by Lagrangian planes by their polar duals with respect to a second transversal Lagrangian plane. Using the theory of the John ellipsoid we relate (...) these geometric quantum states to the notion of “quantum blobs” introduced in previous work; quantum blobs are the smallest symplectic invariant regions of the phase space compatible with the uncertainty principle. We show that the set of equivalence classes of unitarily related geometric quantum states is in a one-to-one correspondence with the set of all Gaussian wavepackets. We emphasize that the uncertainty principle appears in this paper as geometric property of the states we define, and is not expressed in terms of variances and covariances, the use of which was criticized by Hilgevoord and Uffink. (shrink)

Le Conseiller d'Etat ou Recueil général de la politique moderne est l'un des grands traités politiques du XVIIe siècle. Son auteur, Philippe de Béthune, diplomate réputé et fin connaisseur de la vie publique, a écrit un livre étonnant de philosophie politique, de stratégie, d'économie et d'urbanisme. Œuvre d 'un homme de cour, habitué à côtoyer les princes, il est le produit de la réflexion et de l'expérience d'un personnage singulier, mais aussi d'une époque insolite de mutation entre deux mondes, - (...) celui de la Renaissance, des guerres de religion et des troubles de la Ligue, et celui de l'absolutisme monarchique et de l'État moderne, - marquée par une transformation profonde des valeurs politiques et morales. Personnalité peu commune, qui a voyagé à travers toute l'Europe, qui par deux fois a été ambassadeur à Rome et qui a bénéficié d'une longévité remarquable, Philippe de Béthune est le frère puîné de Sully Il naît sous Charles IX, commence sa carrière comme mignon, dans l'entourage de Joyeuse, l'archi-favori d'Henri III, sert Henri lV Louis XIII, Richelieu et termine sa vie sous le ministériat de Mazarin. Publié en 1633, avec l'accord du cardinal ministre, Le Conseiller d'Etat n 'a jamais été réédité depuis 1684. Cette nouvelle édition est précédée d'une longue introduction sur l'art politique de la première moitié du XVlle siècle et le paysage mental de l'époque. (shrink)

I have argued here for a change in a scientific world-view, from that of the study of forms to that of process. In doing so we need to understand as to how process creates form. In showing this I have at first drawn from the history of Buddhist philosophy; with its concepts of ‘Sunyata’ (Emptiness) and radical interdependency (Huayen). Then showed its parallel with modern Fractal geometries, which thru’ rather simple mathematics, shows as to how process could derive form. I (...) have then gone on to Quantum constructions, which is without doubt the most advanced scientific development in modern times, and attempted to show two vital directions which contradict the classical scientific world view. The usual scientific view retains a Descartian, ‘out there’ deterministic framework. I argue that with the break down of determinism, and the non locality of phenomena suggested by Quantum Mechanics allows for an independent functioning of consciousness; which then is not a mere epiphenomena of neural activity within the brain. Such a view has wide implications on how we live and how we die. (shrink)

This article takes up the adventure of the Arabic version of the Elements published in Rome at the Typographia Medicea in 1594 at the point where the first installment (Cassinet, Revue française d’histoire du livre 78–79:5–51, 1993) ended. In this new installment of the adventure, we situate the Rome edition within a stemma of connected Arabic copies spanning some four centuries. We show that the text of the Rome edition was typeset from Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Or. 20 and that Or. (...) 20 in turn was copied from Or. 50. We show that a manuscript (Tehran, Sipahsalar 540) was later copied from the printed edition and that still later the text of the Rome edition was reissued in lithograph form in Fez. The story is important because the Rome edition influenced the development of non-Euclidean geometry in European mathematics and because the mistaken identity of its author has led to persistent errors in the history of mathematics. (shrink)

We discuss in this paper the question of the scope of the principle of tolerance about languages promoted in Carnap's The Logical Syntax of Language and the nature of the analogy between it and the rudimentary conventionalism purportedly exhibited in the work of Poincaré and Hilbert. We take it more or less for granted that Poincaré and Hilbert do argue for conventionalism. We begin by sketching Coffa's historical account, which suggests that tolerance be interpreted as a conventionalism that allows us (...) complete freedom to select whatever language we wish—an interpretation that generalizes the conventionalism promoted by Poincaré and Hilbert which allows us complete freedom to select whatever axiom system we wish for geometry. We argue that such an interpretation saddles Carnap with a theory of meaning that has unhappy consequences, a theory we believe he did not hold. We suggest that the principle of linguistic tolerance in fact has a more limited scope; but within that scope the analogy between tolerance and geometric conventionalism is quite tight. (shrink)

El problema fundamental para que la Teoría de la relatividad pueda ser acorde con la filosofía de Kant es el de la utilización de una geometría no euclídea. Que sus principios sean interpretados como juicios sintéticos a priori es, a nuestro entender, un problema secundario. Si queremos que los principios de una ciencia de la naturaleza sean universales y necesarios sin recurrir a dogmatismos, no queda otra posibilidad que entenderlos trascendentalmente. Como se observa en el principio de relatividad, Einstein también (...) pensaba que las leyes físicas son universales y necesarias. Sin embargo, su perspectiva fue más racionalista que crítica. Sea como fuere, si los principios de la Teoría de la relatividad son a priori y enlazan sintéticamente la experiencia posible, esta teoría nos servirá para entender que las geometrías no euclídeas no son ajenas a los planteamientos de Kant, si bien requieren dar un rodeo epistemológico. La doctrina que nos permite fundamentar las geometrías no euclidianas desde la filosofía de Kant la llamamos “Álgebra de la experiencia”.The main problem for the Theory of the relativity to be in agreement with the Kant´s philosophy is the use of a non-Euclidean geometry. The fact that their principles could be interpreted a priori as synthetic trials is, in our opinion, a secondary problem. If we want that the principles of a science of the nature would be universal and necessary ones without appealing to dogmatisms, then, he have to understand them transcendentally. As in the principle of relativity it is observed, Einstein also thought that the physical laws are universal and necessary ones. However, their perspective was more rationalistic than critic. In any case, if the Theory of Relativity principles are a priori and they synthetically connect the possible experience, then, this theory will allow us to understand that the non-Euclidean geometries are not far away from the Kant´s positions, although they require to made a epistemological turn around. The principle that allows us to base the geometries non Euclidian from the Kant´s philosophy is called “Algebra of the experience”. (shrink)

Husserl has often stood accused of Eurocentrism given his disquieting coupling of philosophy as universal science with Europe. And yet, however much this accusation has clouded the appeal of transcendental phenomenology, the nature of this charge remains obscure: whether Husserl’s chauvinism is merely a personal opinion punctuating his writing or is instead closely connected to the methods of phenomenology has been left unexplored. This paper offers itself as a corrective, looking to get a clearer picture of how precisely Eurocentrism afflicts (...) transcendental phenomenology. The overarching aim of doing so is to chart the possibilities for the development of a non-Eurocentric, decolonial phenomenological thinking which exploits the enduring appeal of Husserl’s commitment to presuppositionlessness. The first part of the paper considers the relationship between the phenomenological reduction and eidetic variation, showing that, by Husserl’s own lights, phenomenological science seeks to expel all forms of prejudice. Part two, however, shows that the entrance of Eurocentrism into phenomenology is not simply accidental, in two distinct senses. The first, which takes off from Merleau-Ponty’s (implicit) critique of Husserl, argues that Husserl in his late work is insufficiently attentive to the empirical dimension: Eurocentrism thus stems from the overly transcendental emphases of this project and its inability to engage with concrete human diversity. The second draws on Derrida’s (explicit) critique of Husserl, arguing that it is precisely the admission of concrete historico-cultural facts into phenomenology that compromises the universal by identifying it with the particularities of Europe. I thus show that Eurocentrism does indeed insinuate itself in Husserl’s methods—_not_, however, in a manner that renders transcendental phenomenology irredeemable. Given the opposition between these two insightful criticisms, however, I argue that the challenge for a decolonial vision of phenomenology is formidable. (shrink)

Democracy may well be the primary virtue of political systems. Yet European politics is marked by a democracy deficit that will not disappear spontaneously. While legal and political theory on this issue is dominated by supporters of civic institutionalism and constitutional republicanism, liberal nationalists seem to be split. They justify the civic nationhood of member states, but they shrink away from the idea of a European people. This essay claims that a quasi-national conception of European identity can be conducive to (...) the rise of a democratic political union of Europe. It discusses the mechanisms and rules for Europeanization of the sense of equal dignity and solidarity. This approach to supranational identity is explicitly instrumental and orientated towards the long run. However, the main liberal objections against it can be countered. (shrink)

Depuis près de quarante ans, Pierre Manent trace une voie originale et féconde. Ses livres interrogent les formes politiques qui donnent sens à l'expérience historique, de la cité grecque aux nations européennes, en passant par l'Empire romain et l'Eglise chrétienne. Cet ouvrage, le premier entièrement consacré à Pierre Manent, aborde les grands thèmes de son oeuvre, autour de trois axes: la philosophie, la politique et la religion. Il examine également les principales étapes de la pensée politique : Aristote, Machiavel, Pascal, (...) Tocqueville... L'histoire et la philosophie politique éclairent les enjeux du présent, en particulier la crise de la démocratie et de la nation en Europe. Pour Pierre Manent et ceux qui s'en inspirent, la politique constitue le fait générateur des sociétés humaines. Elle façonne l'humanité de l'homme, qui se réalise dans la vie en commun. Aller vers la politique, c'est aller vers l'âme. Une incitation à lire et relire une oeuvre forte et pénétrante. (shrink)

After the demise of German Idealism, Neo-Kantianism flourished as the defining philosophical movement of Continental Europe from the 1860s until the Weimar Republic. This collection of new essays by distinguished scholars offers a fresh examination of the many and enduring contributions that Neo-Kantianism has made to a diverse range of philosophical subjects. The essays discuss classical figures and themes, including the Marburg and Southwestern Schools, Cohen, Cassirer, Rickert, and Natorp's psychology. In addition they examine lesser-known topics, including the Neo-Kantian influence (...) on theory of law, Husserlian phenomenology, Simmel's study of Rembrandt, Cassirer's philosophy of science, Cohen's philosophy of religion in relation to Rawls and Habermas, and Rickert's theory of number. This rich exploration of a major philosophical movement will interest scholars and upper-level students of Kant, twentieth-century philosophy, continental philosophy, sociology, and psychology. (shrink)

This paper examines two objections by Colin McGinn to panexperientialist metaphysics as a solution to the mind-body problem. It begins by briefly stating how the `ontological problem' of the mind-body relationship is central to the philosophy of mind, summarizes the difficulties with dualism and materialism, and outlines the main tenets of panexperientialism. Panexperientialists, such as David Ray Griffin, claim that theirs is one approach to solving the mind-body problem which does not get stuck in accounting for interaction nor in the (...) difficulties with emergentism and epiphenomenalism . McGinn attacks panexperientialism on two fronts: the Whiteheadian distinction between `consciousness' and `experience' and the notion of consciousness emerging from `non-conscious experience'; and the implicit `absurdities' inherent in the notion of experience and self-agency in the fundamental particles of physics. Griffin's defence fails to satisfactorily address challenge ; though a model is presented by the author which may offer panexperientialism a way out. McGinn's challenge is an attempted reductio which Griffin rejects: that panexperientialism contradicts the evidence of modern quantum- relativistic physics. The author's analysis of the opposing positions shows that both philosophers are arguing from incompatible `geometries of discourse' and radically inconsistent metaphysical assumptions. The paper concludes that a resolution of both the mind-body problem in general, and of the McGinn-Griffin dispute in particular, needs to involve an epistemological shift to include extra-rational ways of knowing. (shrink)

Quelle est la nature et la fonction des sentiments dans l’activité de connaissance et, plus largement, dans l’existence humaine? Cette question, massive, n’a cessé d’inquiéter la philosophie, dont l’histoire paraît à bien des égards se confondre avec celle d’une opposition entre la lucidité de la raison et l’obscurité dangereuse des passions. Si le discours philosophique n’a jamais nié l’importance des sentiments, ni leur rôle dans l’ordonnancement général de la vie humaine, ce discours est cependant empreint d’ambiguïtés, comme l’est, déjà, le (...) statut du « cœur » dans la tripartition fonctionnelle de l’âme présentée par Platon : ni réductible à la droite raison, ni relégué dans la sphère des désirs qui nous empêchent de contempler les Idées, le sentiment est cet intermédiaire allié de la raison qui met en mouvement nos réactions morales. Cette ambiguïté se retrouve à l’âge classique, lorsque le discours philosophique découvre le fonctionnement des passions et cherche les modèles scientifiques susceptibles d’en rendre compte, hésitant entre la physiologie , la géométrie , la médecine et les sciences de la nature .En faisant de l’affectivité l’une des structures fondamentales de l’existence, la phénoménologie a replacé au centre du questionnement philosophique la problématique des sentiments. Mais comment décrire ces expériences singulières – celle de l’amour, de l’angoisse, du désespoir ou de la joie – sans les confondre avec des objets? Comment donner du sens aux affects sans adopter ce point de vue surplombant des sciences de la nature, qui confond le discours des causes et celui des raisons? Comment, en d’autres termes, continuer à parler des sentiments de manière raisonnée, tout en reconnaissant que les sentiments nous font autant que nous les connaissons – tout en continuant, par conséquent, à être réceptifs à leur pouvoir de nous ébranler? (shrink)

My title, of course, is an exaggeration. The world no more became mathematical in the seventeenth century than it became ironic in the nineteenth. Either it was mathematical all along, and seventeenth-century philosophers discovered it was, or, if it wasn’t, it could not have been made so by a few books. What became mathematical was physics, and whether that has any bearing on the furniture of the universe is one topic of this paper. Garber says, and I agree, that for (...) Descartes bodies are the things of geometry made real ( Ref). That is a claim about the world: what God created, and what we know in physics, is nothing other than res extensa and its modes. Others, including Marion, hold that in modern science, here represented at its origins by Descartes, representation displaces beings: the knower no longer confronts Being or beings but rather a system of signs, a “code” as Marion calls it, to which the knower stands in the relation of subject to object. The Meditations, or perhaps even the Regulæ, are the first step toward the transcendental idealism of Kant. Most of this paper will be devoted to a more concrete question. Physics in the seventeenth century increasingly became a matter of applying mathematical knowledge to the solution of physical problems. The “mixed sciences” of astronomy, optics, and music, sciences then distinct from physics, became models of understanding for all of natural philosophy. My interest here is in one aspect of that development: how particular physical situations are transformed into mathematical. I will look at the work of Descartes and Isaac Beeckman, contrasting their visions of “physico-mathematics”. (shrink)

This volume aims to generate a dialogue between scholarship on populism and social and political theory. It focuses on citizenship, class, gender, cleavages, sovereignty, accountability, participation, leadership, and parties. The volume explores how classical and current theorists developed these categories, how they were used by scholars of populism, and what populism tells us about their heuristic advantages and limitations. The authors of this book have studied populism in Europe, the US, and Latin America from distinct perspectives. The chapters thus focus (...) on experiences in both the Global North and South. Contributors are: Cecilia Biancalana, Paula Diehl, Reinhard Heinisch, Klaudia Koxha, Alfio Mastropaolo, Oscar Mazzoleni, Enrique Peruzzotti, Kenneth M. Roberts, Luis Roniger, and Carlos de la Torre. (shrink)

Written before the impressive collapse of the socialist system in Eastern Europe, this book offers a quite objective and serious systematic analysis of the Marxian labor theory of value, Marx's main scientific legacy. After reconstructing the 'prototype' of this theory - which is the theory as it was left by Marx himself in Capital - the author proceeds to a careful and detailed analysis of its foundational problems, taking into account Bohm-Bawerk's important criticisms. After introducing advanced contemporary formal tools, the (...) author proceeds to a thorough discussion of the dialectical method, just in order to tackle the foundational problems of the theory. He provides a formally precise and well motivated definition of abstract labor, and then proceeds to prove the existence of a measurement of abstract labor - i.e. the existence of numerical labor-values. Using this result, the author provides rigorous axiomatic foundations for the theory of value and then proves the existence of a Marxian competitive equilibrium, which is tantamount to the proof of the possibility of reproduction for a capitalist economy. The author finishes the book by showing in detail how the problems of the prototype are solved, by reconstructing the Leontief model of the labor theory of value on the new logical bases. Written in a very clear style, in the language of contemporary philosophy of science, the book is of interest to philosophers of science and economists, applied logicians and all those interested in the scientific legacy of Karl Marx. (shrink)

This chapter describes how philosophical theorizing about justice can be connected with empirical research in the social sciences. We begin by drawing on some received distinctions between ideal and non-ideal approaches to theorizing justice along several different dimensions, showing how non-ideal approaches are needed to address normative aspects of real-world problems and to provide practical guidance. We argue that there are advantages to a transitional approach to justice focusing on manifest injustices, including the fact that it enables us to set (...) aside some reasonable disagreements about justice. The ‘bottom-up’ approach we advocate, for which we borrow Wolff’s term ‘real-world political philosophy’, is an empirically-informed normative analysis that attends to specific, identifiable injustices, and thus is partial, though not isolationist. We illustrate our approach by considering how different models of the nature of disability suggest different kinds of remedy for injustices faced by persons living with disabilities. We reflect on the nature and significance of vulnerabilities, and we assess the role of public opinion in normative theorizing, suggesting a particular significance for the opinions and experiences of marginalized groups. We finally reflect on the relevance of European legal and institutional frameworks for theorizing justice in Europe. (shrink)

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are one of the first examples of nanotechnology, with a history of promising uses and high expectations. This paper uses the recent debate over their future to explore both ethical and value-laden statements which unsettle the notion of CNTs as a value-free nanotechnology and their regulation as purely a technical affair. A point of departure is made with the inclusion of CNTs on the Substitute-It-Now list by the Swedish NGO ChemSec, an assessment process that anticipates and complements (...) the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation in Europe. An argument map is constructed to illustrate the core contention in the debate—should CNTs be substituted or not—which follows from a systematic literature review and content analysis of sampled journal articles. Nine arguments are articulated that bolster one of two camps: the pro-substitution camp or the contra-substitution camp. Beneath these arguments are a set of three implicit values that animate these two camps in prescribing competing interventions to resolve the dispute: (i) environmental protection and human safety, (ii) good science, and (iii) technological progress. This leads to a discussion around the regulatory problem of safeguarding conflicting values in decision-making under sustained scientific uncertainty. Finally, the study suggests further empirical work on specific nanomaterials in a pivot away from the abstract, promissory nature of nanotechnology and other emerging technologies in science, technology, and innovation policy. The examination of ethics and values is useful for mapping controversies in science and technology studies of regulation, even amongst experts in cognate research fields like nanomedicine and nanotoxicology. (shrink)

We define and study the notion of quantum polarity, which is a kind of geometric Fourier transform between sets of positions and sets of momenta. Extending previous work of ours, we show that the orthogonal projections of the covariance ellipsoid of a quantum state on the configuration and momentum spaces form what we call a dual quantum pair. We thereafter show that quantum polarity allows solving the Pauli reconstruction problem for Gaussian wavefunctions. The notion of quantum polarity exhibits a strong (...) interplay between the uncertainty principle and symplectic and convex geometry and our approach could therefore pave the way for a geometric and topological version of quantum indeterminacy. We relate our results to the Blaschke–Santaló inequality and to the Mahler conjecture. We also discuss the Hardy uncertainty principle and the less-known Donoho–Stark principle from the point of view of quantum polarity. (shrink)

Discourse on the motives that should encourage us towards the sciences (1725) ; Essay on the causes that can affect minds and characters (1736-1738/1739) -- Dissertation on Roman politics in religion (1716) ; Discourse on Cicero (1717) ; Dialogue between Sulla and Eucrates (1724) -- Notes on England (1729-1731) ; Reflections on the inhabitants of Rome (1732) -- In praise of sincerity (1717?) ; Treatise on duties (1725) ; On consideration and reputation (1725) ; Discourse on the equity that must (...) determine judgments and the execution of laws (1725) ; Dialogue between Xanthippus and Xenocrates (1727) ; Lysimachus (1751) -- Letters from Xenocrates to Pheres (1724) ; On politics (1725) ; Reflections on universal monarchy in Europe (1731-1733) ; Reflections on the character of certain princes and on certain events in their lives (1731-1733) ; Memorandum on the silence to impose on the "Constitution" (1754) -- Memorandum on the debts of state (1715) ; Considerations on the wealth of Spain (1727-1728) -- Defense of the spirit of law (1750). (shrink)

Elle a besoin de voix qui, au-delà de l'urgence des décisions, prennent un peu de distance pour regarder la vie sous un jour imprévu. Ce jour, nous avons voulu le répandre sur ce que nous avons appelé la vie en Europe.

Dans la seconde partie de son Prologue au Commentaire du premier livre des Éléments d'Euclide, Proclus, un néo-platonicien du Ve siècle après J.-C., a donné sur Platon un jugement qui semble avoir été accepté d'une façon assez unanime par les anciens, lorsqu'il écrit: «Après eux [Hippocrate de Chios et Théodore de Cyrène] vécut Platon qui fit prendre aux Mathématiques en général, à la Géométrie en particulier, un essor immense, grâce au zèle qu'il déploya pour elles, et dont témoignent assez ses (...) écrits tout remplis de discours mathématiques, et qui, à chaque instant, éveillent l'ardeur pour ces sciences chez ceux qui s'adonnent à la philosophie». Les historiens modernes de la géométrie grecque ont dû nuancer ce jugement de Proclus, allant même jusqu'à parler de légende à propos des prétendues découvertes géométriques de Platonz. De fait, il semble que l'essor des mathématiques et de la géométrie au IVe siècle av. (shrink)

L'Alcibiade est sans doute l'un des dialogues platoniciens qui a ete le plus lu et le plus apprecie dans l'antiquite: a preuve les multiples citations que l'on en trouve un peu partout ou encore le fait exceptionnel que l'on en a conserve deux commentaires neoplatoniciens. C'est que jamais, a la difference des modernes, les anciens n'ont doute de l'authenticite de ce dialogue, dans lequel certains voyaient meme, comme Jamblique, un resume parfait de la philosophie de Platon.

The rise of modern natural sciences was based on the belief that knowledge about nature would increase steadily and that sooner or later it would prove useful for people and society. How these expectations shaped the self-image and the development of the natural sciences is the subject of this book. It turns out that expectations have repeatedly changed: from the universal ideal of utility of the 17th and 18th centuries to the promise of technical progress that is decisive today. The (...) unshakable belief in the usefulness of the natural sciences has always been accompanied by the insight that progress in knowledge can only be guaranteed if research is not based solely on short-term needs. In her story of the modern understanding of science, Désirée Schauz draws a bow from early modern natural research to the natural sciences of the 20th century. With its long-term perspective and its conceptual historical instruments, this book not only makes an important contribution to the modern history of science, but also provides a historically sound basis for current debates on science and innovation policy."-- publisher's website. (shrink)

In his encyclopedic book, the mathematician of Saragossa, Ibn Hūd, established by an intrinsic demonstration of spherical geometry, a remarkable theorem which generalizes the proposition III.11 from Theodosius’s Spherics and integrates the propositions III.23-25 from Menelaus’s Spherics. In this paper, we study this theorem and the demonstration of Ibn Hūd. The reader will find also some established and translated texts addressing the same theme. Résumé Dans son livre encyclopédique, le mathématicien de Saragosse, Ibn Hūd, établit par une démonstration intrinsèque de (...) la géométrie sphérique un théorème remarquable qui généralise la proposition III.11 des Sphériques de Théodose et intègre les propositions III.23-25 des Sphériques de Ménélaüs. Dans cet article, on étudie ce théorème ainsi que la démonstration d’Ibn Hūd. Le lecteur trouvera aussi établis et traduits quelques textes qui portent sur le même thème. (shrink)

RésuméDans son livre encyclopédique, le mathématicien de Saragosse, Ibn Hūd, établit par une démonstration intrinsèque de la géométrie sphérique un théorème remarquable qui généralise la proposition III.11 des Sphériques de Théodose et intègre les propositions III.23-25 des Sphériques de Ménélaüs. Dans cet article, on étudie ce théorème ainsi que la démonstration d’Ibn Hūd. Le lecteur trouvera aussi établis et traduits quelques textes qui portent sur le même thème.

The introduction of genomics and biobanking methodologies to the African research context has also introduced novel ways of doing science, based on values of sharing and reuse of data and samples. This shift raises ethical challenges that need to be considered when research is reviewed by ethics committees, relating for instance to broad consent, the feedback of individual genetic findings, and regulation of secondary sample access and use. Yet existing ethics guidelines and regulations in Africa do not successfully regulate research (...) based on sharing, causing confusion about what is allowed, where and when. In order to understand better the ethics regulatory landscape around genomic research and biobanking, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of existing ethics guidelines, policies and other similar sources. We sourced 30 ethics regulatory documents from 22 African countries. We used software that assists with qualitative data analysis to conduct a thematic analysis of these documents. Surprisingly considering how contentious broad consent is in Africa, we found that most countries allow the use of this consent model, with its use banned in only three of the countries we investigated. In a likely response to fears about exploitation, the export of samples outside of the continent is strictly regulated, sometimes in conjunction with regulations around international collaboration. We also found that whilst an essential and critical component of ensuring ethical best practice in genomics research relates to the governance framework that accompanies sample and data sharing, this was most sparingly covered in the guidelines. There is a need for ethics guidelines in African countries to be adapted to the changing science policy landscape, which increasingly supports principles of openness, storage, sharing and secondary use. Current guidelines are not pertinent to the ethical challenges that such a new orientation raises, and therefore fail to provide accurate guidance to ethics committees and researchers. (shrink)

« Les sciences s’éloignent de plus en plus de leur motivation première, d’une part parce qu’elles s’enferment dans leurs spécialisations respectives, de l’autre, parce qu’elles se réduisent à une pratique utilitariste ou purement calculatoire. Il faudrait s’employer à réhabiliter une pensée exigeante et transversale capable de repérer les similitudes à l’œuvre dans les disciplines et les phénomènes les plus différents. La compréhension spatiale et temporelle des phénomènes est le dénominateur commun capable de les unifier, tout en en reconnaissant les différences (...) significatives. Dans cette perspective, les mathématiques, et plus particulièrement la géométrie et la topologie qui expriment une pensée qualitative riche et complexe, doivent acquérir à nouveau un rôle fondamental qui, abandonnant toute prétention d’exclusivité ou de supériorité par rapport aux autres formes de connaissance, renoue sur les plans heuristique et imaginatif avec la philosophie, les sciences de la nature et les études sur la société. Le principal propos d’une philosophie de la nature me semble être de clarifier les interactions entre espace et temps, matière et forme, corps et esprit. De nombreux phénomènes physiques et naturels, y compris plusieurs processus biologiques, peuvent être compris en termes de déploiement d’un noyau géométrique initial qui crée en quelque sorte un espace-temps spécifique aux propriétés caractéristiques. Sans épuiser la signification de ces phénomènes et processus, ce noyau constitue plutôt une vision spectrale incluant leurs divers modes d’organisation et de manifestation. ». (shrink)

L'auteur, qui tente de definir ici ce qu'il entend par methode d' analyse structurelle et de comprehension analogique des doctrines, l'illustre d'exemples concrets et induit ainsi la structure d'intelligibilite de toute reflexion politique possible: celle de la causalite totale et ordonnee du prince et du peuple, analogue de la distinction structurelle metaphysique de la forme et de la matiere, de la quiddite et de l'exercice, telle que l'aristotelisme les propose. Il montre par la meme comment le volontarisme de Duns Scot (...) et d'Occam rompt avec ce mode de pensee en definissant la volonte comme absolue de toute determination finale et objective par soi. Ce volontarisme - source de la reflexion politique moderne - inspire immediatement la notion du droit naturel de tous sur tout (jus omnium in omnia), dont les virtualites anarchiques appellent des contrepieds aussi divers que le sont la loi divine a apriori, le droit divin des rois, le droit naturel du jusnaturalisme moderne, le contrat social, la limitation psychologique de la volonte de chacun par celle d'autrui, comme les presentent tour a tour Occam, Suarez, Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Pufendorf, Barbeyrac, Rousseau, l'utilitarisme ou l'ethique de la discussion. (shrink)

The Future of Man is a magnificent introduction to the thoughts and writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, one of the few figures in the history of the Catholic Church to achieve renown as both a scientist and a theologian. Trained as a paleontologist and ordained as a Jesuit priest, Teilhard de Chardin devoted himself to establishing the intimate, interdependent connection between science—particularly the theory of evolution—and the basic tenets of the Christian faith. At the center of his philosophy was (...) the belief that the human species is evolving spiritually, progressing from a simple faith to higher and higher forms of consciousness, including a consciousness of God, and culminating in the ultimate understanding of humankind’s place and purpose in the universe. The Church, which would not condone his philosophical writings, refused to allow their publication during his lifetime. Written over a period of thirty years and presented here in chronological order, the essays cover the wide-ranging interests and inquiries that engaged Teilhard de Chardin throughout his life: intellectual and social evolution; the coming of ultra-humanity; the integral place of faith in God in the advancement of science; and the impact of scientific discoveries on traditional religious dogma. Less formal than The Phenomenon of Man and The Divine Milieu , Teilhard de Chardin’s most renowned works, The Future of Man offers a complete, fully accessible look at the genesis of ideas that continue to reverberate in both the scientific and the religious communities. (shrink)

In September 2020, the surgeon Paulo Macchiarini, who used stem cell technology to enable the transplants of artificial and donor trachea, was charged with aggravated assault in Sweden. In this comment, we argue that the Ethics Council of the Karolinska Institute should have considered issues from philosophy of science when they were brought to their attention, rather than dismiss them as irrelevant to research ethics. We demonstrate how conceptual issues of a philosophy-of-science-kind about clinical research and medical practice should be (...) integral to research ethics. (shrink)

DANS QUELLE MESURE LES CARACTERISTIQUES DE LA NOTION RENANIENNE DE LA SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT-ELLES D'UNE PART AU COURANT REDUCTIONNISTE, D'AUTRE PART A L'IDEE SYNTHETISANTE OU GLOBALISANTE QUI SE FORMULE EN TERMES D'INSATISFACTION ET D'EXIGENCES A RESONANCE ROMANTIQUE? VAUT-IL LA PEINE D'ETUDIER L'UVRE RENANIENNE DANS L'OPTIQUE DE NOS CONNAISSANCES SUR L'HISTOIRE DES IDEES AU XIXE SIECLE? PEUT-ON PARLER DE L'ACTUALITE DE LA PENSEE DE RENAN AUJOURD'HUI QUAND LES PREOCCUPATIONS EPISTEMOLOGIQUES CONTINUENT A DOMINER LA REFLEXION PHILOSOPHIQUE? LA PENSEE DE RENAN HESITE ENTRE L'EPISTEMOLOGIE (...) REDUCTIONNISTE, ALIMENTEE PAR LES RESULTATS DES SCIENCES EXPERIMENTALES, ET L'ATTITUDE GLOBALISANTE SOUHAITANT DONNER A LA CONNAISSANCE LA TOTALITE COMME OBJET. LA SCIENCE DE GALILEE, DE NEWTON ET DE LAPLACE A REDUIT LA RICHESSE INDIVIDUELLE DES PHENOMENES A DES CAS IDEALISES, PRIVES EN PREMIER LIEU DE LEUR HISTOIRE. C'EST LE TEMPS-DEVENIR QUI REVENDIQUE SES DROITS DANS CETTE CONCEPTION ETAYEE PAR LA PHILOSOPHIE ALLEMANDE. POSITIVISME ET ROMANTISME DESIGNENT CHEZ RENAN LES DEUX POLES D'UN CONFLIT D'ORDRE EPISTEMOLOGIQUE. IL SERAIT PREFERABLE DE REMPLACER DORENAVANT CES TERMES PAR REDUCTIONNISMEET GLOBALISME EPISTEMOLOGIQUES. LA METHODE DOUBLE SUGGEREE PAR RENAN, COMPOSEE DE RIGUEUR ET DE FINESSE SIGNIFIE QU'IL A PRIS CONSCIENCE DE LA CAUSE QUI PRESIDAIT A L'INSUFFISANCE DE LA DEMARCHE REDUCTIONNISTE : IL S'EST RENDU COMPTE QUE LE TEMPS-DEVENIR DEVAIT ENTRER DANS LA DEFINITION DE L'OBJET SCIENTIFIQUE. LA PENSEE DE RENAN, AVEC TOUT SON ATTACHEMENT A DES FORMULES QUI SEMBLENT AUJOURD'HUI AVOIR VECU, EST UNE PROMESSE NON TENUE : L'ELABORATION RIGOUREUSE DE SES IDEES AURAIT PU DONNER NAISSANCE A UN SYSTEME EPISTEMOLOGIQUE UNIFIE DE LA SCIENCE. L'UNIFICATION QUI SE PASSERAIT NEANMOINS SOUS L'EGIDE DES SCIENCES HUMAINES PUISQUE CELLES-CI SONT CAPABLES DE DEPASSER LE REDUCTIONNISME ETROIT DE LA METHODE PRATIQUEE PAR LES SCIENCES DE LA NATURE. (shrink)

In this paper I review the problematic relationship between science and philosophy; in particular, I will address the question of whether science needs philosophy, and I will offer some positive perspectives that should be helpful in developing a synergetic relationship between the two. I will review three lines of reasoning often employed in arguing that philosophy is useless for science: philosophy’s death diagnosis ; the historic-agnostic argument/challenge “show me examples where philosophy has been useful for science, for I don’t know (...) of any”; the division of property argument. These arguments will be countered with three contentions to the effect that the natural sciences need philosophy. I will: point to the fallacy of anti-philosophicalism and examine the role of paradigms and presuppositions ; point out why the historical argument fails ; briefly sketch some domains of intersection of science and philosophy and how the two can have mutual synergy. I will conclude with some implications of this synergetic relationship between science and philosophy for the liberal arts and sciences. (shrink)

Loin des traites du gouvernement visant a definir les bornes du pouvoir legitime, le Discours de la servitude volontaire presente la tyrannie comme la negation radicale de toute communaute civile. La ou tout est a un, aucune chose publique ne saurait subsister.Or la racine de cette appropriation tyrannique, c'est, en chacun, l'alienation consentie ou la servitude volontaire. De ce fondement enigmatique et revoltant de toute domination, La Boetie tire une serie de paradoxes qui sont autant d'avertissements constamment adresses a la (...) philosophie politique des Modernes. (shrink)