This landmark work provides a systematic introduction to systems of modal logic and stands as the first presentation of what have become central ideas in philosophy of language and metaphysics, from the "new theory of reference" and non-linguistic necessity and essentialism to "Kripke semantics.".

This article is a theoretical and empirical exploration of the meaning that accompanies contractual agreements, such as the End-User License Agreements (EULAs) that participants of online communities are required to sign as a condition of participation. As our study indicates, clicking “I agree” on the often lengthy conditions presented during the installation and updating process typically permits third parties (including researchers) to monitor the digitally-mediated actions of users. Through our small-scale study in which we asked participants which terms of EULAs (...) they would find agreeable, the majority confirmed that they simply clicked through the terms presented to them without much knowledge about the terms to which they were agreeing. From a research ethics standpoint, we reflect upon whether or not informed consent is achieved in these cases and pose a challenge to the academic research community to attend to the socio-technical shift from informed consent to a more nebulous concept of contractual agreement, online and offline. (shrink)

Suzanne de Castell; On Writing of Theory and Practice, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 23, Issue 1, 30 May 2006, Pages 39–49, https://doi.org/10.1111.

Appearing in English for the first time, Schelling’s 1842 lectures develop the idea that many philosophical concepts are born of religious-mythological notions.

Les mathématiques telles qu’elles se sont développées entre 1935 et 1970 jouent un rôle très important dans La Méthode. Ce rôle est explicite en ce qui concerne la logique, plus implicite en ce qui concerne la théorie du contrôle, l’incertitude, et certaines notions vues hors du champ mathématique et particulièrement probabiliste . Sur un exemple de résultats récents de la logique mathématique, la correspondance de Curry-Howard et les travaux de Jean-Louis Krivine nous montrent la pertinence des idées et des intuitions (...) d’Edgar Morin concernant la logique, la réalité et le cerveau.Mathematics as they are developed between 1935 and 1970 played a very important role in the method. This role is explicit with respect to the logical, implied regarding control theory, uncertainty, and some notions out of the field and especially mathematical probability . On a recent example of results of mathematical logic, the Curry-Howard correspondence and the work of Jean-Louis Krivine show the relevance of the ideas and insights of Edgar Morin on logic, reality and brain. (shrink)

Summary 1898 marked a crucial point in the end of the nineteenth-century Spanish crisis. The military defeat ending the Spanish-American War was seen as proof that the country was in terminal decline. With the ideals of regeneration spreading throughout Spanish society, the State became more interested in supporting and sponsoring science and technology, as well as in creating a modern educational system. The resulting reforms reflected this strong interest in scientific education, and consequently, the first decades of the twentieth century (...) saw a turning point in the development of science and technology in Spain. Some recent papers have discussed various initiatives taken by Spanish governments, particularly in the creation of new official institutions. Such institutions played an important role in the development of science and technology, but their activity in the promotion of scientific education was very limited. However, other governmental initiatives were taken in order to develop this area, particularly focusing on the acquisition of scientific instruments. Scientific instruments were needed not only to improve Spanish scientific research but also to improve the teaching of experimental sciences. These instruments were specifically adapted for use by students. This paper aims to present some of the lesser-known individuals and firms who, in the new social and cultural context, provided scientific instruments for educational centres in order to meet the increasing demand for this material in Spanish educational institutions during these years. (shrink)

Suzanne de Castell, Helen Freeman; Education as a Socio-Practical Field: the theory/practice question reformulated, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 1.

I argue that a particular restricted version of the Principle of Indiference is a consistent, indispensible tool for guiding our probabilistic judgements.

With precision and profundity born of 30 years of devoted study, John Boyle offers an essential introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas on Scripture, shedding helpful light on the goals, methods, and commitments that animate the Angelic Doctor's engagement with the sacred page. Because the genius of St. Thomas's approach to the Bible lies not so much in its novelty but rather in the fidelity and clarity with which he recapitulates the riches of the preceding interpretive Tradition, this initiation into St. (...) Thomas's vision of Scripture is itself an orientation to the Church's vision of Scripture, from the Fathers through and beyond the Middle Ages. St. Thomas's embeddedness within the Church's Tradition and his own historical context is integral to his approach to Scripture, yet it sets him at some distance from modern readers, for whom his interpretive vision may seem perplexing or even impenetrable. In this Primer, Boyle first provides an acclimation to this medieval context through a survey and explanation of pertinent technical terminology used by St. Thomas and characteristic of the scholastic theology of the time. With an eye to the medieval practice of considering Scripture according to the fourfold division of causes, Boyle builds on this initial foundation by exploring in turn St. Thomas's accounts of the end or use of Scripture (final cause), its divine and human authorship (efficient cause), its order and division (material cause), and its literary styles or genres (formal cause). Drawing on writings from across St. Thomas's corpus, but especially his work On the Commendation and Division of Sacred Scripture and the prologues to his biblical commentaries, Boyle masterfully elucidates both the hermeneutical principles and deep wisdom of the Angelic Doctor's approach to Scripture, imparting invaluable guidance not only for reading and understanding St. Thomas and other great masters of the Tradition, but also-and ultimately-for understanding Scripture in light of this Tradition and reading it with greater benefit and joy. (shrink)

Je voudrais souligner l’importance d’un registre qui me paraît complémentaire de la citoyenneté politique, ce que l’on peut appeler la citoyenneté sociale : montrer qu’elle constitue, avec la citoyenneté politique, l’autre socle de la citoyenneté démocratique. Il s’ensuit que le risque de dégradation de cette citoyenneté sociale, qui est une des caractéristiques inquiétantes...

Before broaching our main subject, and exploring why, among all disorders of the mind, obsessive-compulsive disorders have a place apart, I would like to start from a dilemma that is well-known to historians interested in mental disorders. According to one approach, a mental illness X is considered as a bona fide or ‘genuine’ illness if, and only if, it originates from a disturbance of the brain. Its neurobiological form is in this case considered as invariant, whatever cultural veneer might give (...) it a different aspect in accord with historical and local settings. The assumption is that this veneer does not, properly speaking, have any deep grounding in reality... (shrink)

This paper provides an overview, prepared by Robert Castel himself, of his last book, La montée des incertitudes. It describes how a new regime of capitalism has weakened and sometimes destroyed forms of social organization that had been established at the end of industrial capitalism. It discloses three main ongoing transformations: Labour market deregulations – in the sense of questioning both the right to work and the employment statute, and advances in insecurity; The reconfiguration of protective measures – in the (...) sense of the restriction of rights and a rapid rise in social insecurity; The paths of disaffiliation – or how it is that some categories of individuals find themselves destabilized and threatened with social invalidation in this new conjuncture. (shrink)

Suzanne de Castell; On Writing of Theory and Practice, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 23, Issue 1, 30 May 2006, Pages 39–49, https://doi.org/10.1111.

Il semble presque impossible de saisir ce qu'a voulu dire Platon lorsqu'il a conçu l' espace civique de la cité des Lois si l'on n'adopte pas une démarche pluridisciplinaire, dans la mesure où cet espace n'est ni utopique, ni effectivement réalisé à l'issue de l'ouvrage : il est le lieu du possible, c'est-àdire le lieu d'une nécessaire liaison entre l'un et le multiple, l'intelligible et le devenir sensible. Une approche explicitement synoptique permet d'éviter deux écueils que l'on suppose réducteurs : (...) projeter sur la cité platonicienne un schéma géométrique préconçu, celui de la structure en étoile de la cité classique ; et considérer le plan de cette cité comme la solution à un problème physiologique, celui d'une dynamique des corps telle qu'elle s'exprime dans une théorie du mouvement. Dans les deux cas, en effet, la spécificité du projet platonicien semble éludée : comment rendre possible la cohérence du sensible et de l'Idée, au lieu de vouloir dériver la réalité matérielle d'un plan préétabli? The civic Space : The plans for a city in the Laws It seems almost impossible to grasp what Plato had in mind when he conceived the civic space of the city of Laws if one does not adopt a multidisciplinary approach, in so far as such a space is neither Utopian nor actually achieved at the close of the work : it is the seat of the possible, that is the seat of a necessary link between the one and the multifold, the intelligible and the sensible-to-come. An explicitely synoptic approach enables one to eschew two risks that may be reducing : i. e. projecting on to Plato's city a preconceived geometrical pattern, i. e. that of the star structure of the traditional city and considering the plan of such a city as the solution of a physiological problem, i. e. that of the dynamics of bodies as expressed in a theory of movement. In both cases indeed, the specificity of Plato's model seems to be dodged : how can one make the coherence between the sensible and the Idea coincide instead of willing to shunt the material reality from a pre-established plan? (shrink)