Contemporary capitalism is in effect, if not in intent, Deleuzian. As a network of networks, it is rhizomatic, flexible, chaosmotic, evolving, expanding. In the negativist spirit that characterizes the work of the Frankfurt School, this article shows via an analysis of the goverment of the self, the commodification of culture and the modification of nature, how contemporary capitalism does colonize not only the life-world but also life itself.

Ces dix perspectives possibles pour l’Europe ne concluent pas le dossier, elles ouvrent le débat. Elles se veulent proposer des visions marquées par la raison mais aussi par la passion fédérale. Il faut que naissent des « tribuns » européens qui donnent à l’Europarlement un rôle prépondérant sur le Conseil et la Commission. Il est nécessaire d’étendre ses compétences à des sujets de société (les violences sexuelles, l’écologie) et des sujets éminemment stratégiques comme la guerre. L’Europe doit s’ouvrir au lieu (...) d’organiser la fermeture de ses frontières extérieures sous le joug de discours racistes. Les migrations internationales lui sont vitales, pour des raisons économiques et démographiques. Et puis, elle connaît une mutation extraordinaire de l’emploi. Quand la question d’un revenu universel européen financé directement par l’Union comme puissant vecteur de rattrapage et de fédéralisation des politiques sociales sera-t-elle intégrée dans les programmes d’une gauche européenne pour reconquérir les couches populaires perdues? (shrink)

1891. The recovered manuscript of Aristotle's Constitutional History of Athens, now for the first time given to the world from the unique text in the British...

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

Cette introduction au dossier de la Mineure donne le ton. Non, l’avenir de l’Europe n’est pas d’être un objet politique lâche, rancunier, nationaliste et fermé. Les auteurs déconstruisent une à une quelques idées fausses qui courent le long de la campagne électorale. Non, l’Europe n’est pas anti-démocratique. L’Europarlement est le seul à être élu directement par l’ensemble des citoyens du continent. Non, l’Europe n’est pas libérale, l’État-providence existe. Mais elle doit opérer des révolutions, dans le domaine du droit des femmes, (...) de l’écologie, des migrations, de la défense, de la garantie d’un revenu. Seul le saut fédéral et l’invention démocratique permettront l’aboutissement de ces grands chantiers. (shrink)

In a conflict between two people, one person wants one thing and the other wants something else and they think they can't both have what they want. Suppose that what they want can only be the outcome of some joint action. Adam must do either y or z and Eve either y ' or z ' – here y -and- y ' would be one joint action, y -and- z ' would be another, and so on. Adam wants the outcome (...) of his doing z while Eve is doing y '. Eve wants the outcome of her doing z ' while Adam is doing y. Each thinks that these outcomes can't both be had. (shrink)

We resolve a useful formulation of the question how a statistician can coherently incorporate the information in a consulted expert’s probability assessment for an event into a personal posterior probability assertion. Using a framework that recognises the total information available as composed of units available only to each of them along with units available to both, we show: that a sufficient statistic for all the information available to both the expert and the statistician is the product of their odds ratios (...) in favour of the event; that the geometric mean of their two probabilities specifies a contour of pairs of assertions in the unit-square that yield the same posterior probability; that the information-combining function is parameterised by an unknown probability for the event conditioned only on the unspecified information common to both the statistician and the expert; and that an assessable mixing distribution over this unspecified probability allows an integrable mixture distribution to represent a computable posterior probability. The exact results allow the identification of the subclass of coherent probabilities that are externally Bayesian operators. This subclass is equivalent to the class of combining functions that honour the principles of uniformity and compromise. (shrink)

The controversy over judicial activism is as old as the question whether law is “made” or “found” by the courts, and is die quintessential living question for legal philosophers. Here the practical meets the abstract, as Supreme Court justices must, explicitly or not, adopt some philosophical viewpoint in deciding how general constitutional propositions do, or do not, decide current concress te controversies.

The study of human origins is a kaleidoscopic field, a multitude of objects, reflections, and disciplines a swirl in an ever-changing tumult. The extreme diversity of the elements of information that are indispensable to this field of study (teeth, bones, apes, genes, ancient objects, present-day objects, biomechanical factors, cultural constructions …) appears all by itself to be enough to consign any attempt at synthesis to the realm of the Utopian. It hardly seems reasonable to expect the disparate sciences that fuel (...) the field (paleoanthropology, archaeology, molecular biology, physics, psychology, and others) and the contradictory conceptions of scientific activity that they defend (human sciences, natural sciences, experimental sciences, exact sciences) to be joined with any regularity. As for formulating an overall problematics of the interdependent phenomena encountered in the field, one would have to be more than optimistic to entertain such dreams. And yet this is exactly the program that prehistory and paleoanthropology are laboring to construct tinder the label “the study of the origins of man,” an expression that includes both diachronic processes (human evolution) and activities or behaviors from particular moments, elements that are exceedingly difficult to compare given the separation of their geographic and temporal contexts. (shrink)

"Die Tat" concerns the effort to recapture a particular memory. In searching to recover that memory trace the writer discovers that the memory datum itself diffuses and breaks up into the present remembering action of the one who remembers. The essay anatomizes that process of diffusion, and tries to come up with a definition of memory.

Cet article vise à établir un lien entre l’occurrence pratique du terme daimon dans le fragment B 115 d’Empédocle, généralement associée à un sens propre, et son usage dans le contexte simplement physique de B 59. Afin de trancher la question de l’indépendance, de la subordination ou de l’équivalence entre les deux usages, nous menons une analyse lexicologique des deux occurrences dans leur contexte syntaxique : l’importance de l’individualité comme relation à d’autres entités de même ordre fait signe dans les (...) deux cas vers une notion unique de daimon, rendant possible de fonder une analogie entre démons physiques et démons pratiques. (shrink)

La physique sociale commence, dans le Cours, par prendre acte du cercle où s’enferme la modernité: l’esprit critique refuse toute perspective d’organisation sociale; l’esprit rétrograde refuse l’idée même de progrès. Comte, progressiste, considère que l’on ne pourra sortir de ce cercle qu’en assumant l’héritage des rétrogrades, de manière à dépasser le danger qu’enveloppe la critique. Notre époque, totalement révolutionnaire, n’a d’autre horizon que sa propre critique. Or, ce qu’enseigne le Moyen-Âge interprété par les rétrogrades, c’est que sans horizon positif, la (...) critique nécessairement en vient à faire le jeu de la force, et en ce sens à détruire la société. C’est donc la comparaison des rétrogrades et des révolutionnaires qui, non seulement justifie le recours au concept de pouvoir spirituel, mais permet de mesurer ce que devient une société qui prétend s’en passer. (shrink)

It is argued that, despite the neglect which Heidegger’s writings on science have generally received, the “fundamental ontology” of Being and Time reveals certain structures of experience crucial for our understanding of science; and that, as these insights cast considerable doubt upon the validity of the empiricist/positivist conception of science, Heidegger deserves considerably better treatment as an incipient philosopher of science than has been the case thus far. His arguments for the distortive effects of the alleged “change over” from praxis (...) to theoria, for the circularity of all human understanding (including scientific understanding), for the necessity of interpreting scientific method in terms of the hermeneutic circle, and for viewing scientific “crises” in ontological terms, are examined and evaluated. The article concludes with some reflections on the later Heidegger’s views on the limits of his earlier idea of science. (shrink)

It is argued that, despite the neglect which Heidegger’s writings on science have generally received, the “fundamental ontology” of Being and Time reveals certain structures of experience crucial for our understanding of science; and that, as these insights cast considerable doubt upon the validity of the empiricist/positivist conception of science, Heidegger deserves considerably better treatment as an incipient philosopher of science than has been the case thus far. His arguments for the distortive effects of the alleged “change over” from praxis (...) to theoria, for the circularity of all human understanding (including scientific understanding), for the necessity of interpreting scientific method in terms of the hermeneutic circle, and for viewing scientific “crises” in ontological terms, are examined and evaluated. The article concludes with some reflections on the later Heidegger’s views on the limits of his earlier idea of science. (shrink)

Interpretation of the development of merleau-ponty's attitude toward phenomenological reflection. first, ``the phenomenology of perception'' is shown to be a critique of the transcendental idealism of husserl's works prior to the ``crisis''. second, ``the visible and the invisible'' is shown to be an imminent critique of the ``lifeworld phenomenology'' of the ``crisis'' and of ``the phenomenology of perception'', leading to the view that phenomenological reflection, like reflective philosophy in general, must be superseded by a new approach which would articulate our (...) truly immediate relation with the world. (shrink)

L’importance des sources néoplatoniciennes de la philosophie première de Jankélévitch s’inscrit dans la lignée de l’enseignement de Bréhier qui le met sur la voie d’une « négation libératrice ». La fidélité à Bergson et la lecture de Schelling ne pouvaient néanmoins que reconduire la tentative de dépassement de la logique qui en résulte à une forme d’expérience pure qui recherche la plénitude dans une adéquation à la vie. Ainsi, « l’évanouissante entrevision » à laquelle Jankélévitch nous condamne à tendre sans (...) jamais l’atteindre, rivés que nous sommes à notre finitude, marque-t‑elle tout autant une forme de distance vis-à-vis de la philosophie de Plotin. La compréhension de cet héritage critique pourra ainsi nous permettre de mieux cerner ce qui sépare le vitalisme de Jankélévitch de l’idéalisme néoplatonicien, c’est-à-dire ce qui demeure incompatible entre la logique de la vie et la dialectique de la pensée. (shrink)

La physique sociale commence, dans le Cours, par prendre acte du cercle où s’enferme la modernité : l’esprit critique refuse toute perspective d’organisation sociale ; l’esprit rétrograde refuse l’idée même de progrès. Comte, progressiste, considère que l’on ne pourra sortir de ce cercle qu’en assumant l’héritage des rétrogrades, de manière à dépasser le danger qu’enveloppe la critique. Notre époque, totalement révolutionnaire, n’a d’autre horizon que sa propre critique. Or, ce qu’enseigne le Moyen-Âge interprété par les rétrogrades, c’est que sans horizon (...) positif, la critique nécessairement en vient à faire le jeu de la force, et en ce sens à détruire la société. C’est donc la comparaison des rétrogrades et des révolutionnaires qui, non seulement justifie le recours au concept de pouvoir spirituel, mais permet de mesurer ce que devient une société qui prétend s’en passer. Sociology begins by taking account of the circle in which modernity is caught. The critical stance refuses any prospect of social organisation ; the counter-revolutionary stance refuses the very idea of progress. As a progressive, Comte feels that, in order to find a way out and to overcome the danger involved in the critical way of thinking, we need to accept the conservative heritage. Our time is totally revolutionary and its horizon is only critical. The middle ages, as seen by the counter-revolutionaries, taught us that, without a positive horizon, the critical stance necessarily comes to side with force and, in the long run, to destroy society. It is therefore the comparison between conservatives and revolutionaries which not only justifies the use of the concept of spiritual power, but allows us to see what happens to a society which pretends to do without it. (shrink)

Le rapport Sarr-Savoy sur la restitution du patrimoine africain a provoqué controverses et crispations. Quels peuvent être les critères de restitution des objets? Les modes d’acquisition, les usages dans le contexte culturel d’origine, les modalités de retour en Afrique? Il s’agit ici de faire un pas de côté par rapport au débat sur le devenir des musées détenteurs de collections coloniales, particulièrement euro centré. La restitution n’est pas seulement le déplacement physique d’un artefact d’un musée à un autre, elle est (...) un geste symbolique. Ainsi, dans les angles morts de la restitution formelle, cette Mineure recherche des formes alternatives de restitution de basse intensité, à partir desquels pourrait s’ouvrir de nouveaux horizons d’appropriation. (shrink)

Les recherches de Natalie Depraz sur l’intersubjectivité rejoignent ici celles de Frédéric Mauriac, particulièrement dans les cas dits « d’urgence psychiatrique ». La question est ainsi de savoir comment poser et penser le rapport fulgurant de la force vitale à ce désir tout humain de vouloir en finir. En ces cas, quelles paroles faut-il oser et quel mode de relation convient-il d’instaurer? La contribution entend offrir des perspectives théoriques et pratiques, essentiellement thérapeutiques, en mettant d’abord en évidence, d’une part, la (...) situation de la phénoménologie henryenne devant la phénoménologie historique et, d’autre part, sa situation devant une praxis fondée sur la singularité de l’approche en deuxième personne. (shrink)

. Computational chemistry grew in a new era of “desktop modeling,” which coincided with a growing demand for modeling software, especially from the pharmaceutical industry. Parameterization of models in computational chemistry is an arduous enterprise, and we argue that this activity leads, in this specific context, to tensions among scientists regarding the epistemic opacity transparency of parameterized methods and the software implementing them. We relate one flame war from the Computational Chemistry mailing List in order to assess in detail the (...) relationships between modeling methods, parameterization, software and the various forms of their enclosure or disclosure. Our claim is that parameterization issues are an important and often neglected source of epistemic opacity and that this opacity is entangled in methods and software alike. Models and software must be addressed together to understand the epistemological tensions at stake. (shrink)

This article revisits some of the main tenets and problems of the Just Peace concept as developed in the German Protestant Church, showing how it is beset by incoherences, ironical returns of expanded violence, as well as the problem of abstraction: once the Just Peace concept is applied to concrete problems, it runs dry. The article then examines some recent contributions made under the wider umbrella of ‘peace ethics’, showing that attempts to combine the Just Peace and bellum iustum are (...) bound to fail. It then retraces the present shift to Just War thinking that reorders the basic terms, whilst also retaining some of the tenets of the Just Peace approach. Some refinements of these developments are indicated. (shrink)

Despite growing evidence that a significant number of patients living with Parkison’s disease experience neuropsychiatric changes following Deep Brain Stimulation treatment, the phenomenon remains poorly understood and largely unexplored in the literature. To shed new light on this phenomenon, we used qualitative methods grounded in phenomenology to conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 17 patients living with Parkinson’s Disease who had undergone DBS. Our study found that patients appear to experience postoperative DBS-induced changes in the form of self-estrangement. Using the insights (...) from patients’ subjective perceptions of postoperative self-change provides a potent explanation of potential DBS-induced self-estrangement. (shrink)

The author attempts to encompass the self, or a self, that, while at some times appears to be his own, at other times not, thus encompassing and continually morphing. It is a mixture of poetry and prose.

Background: Informed consent for genetic tests is a well-established practice. It should be based on good quality information and in keeping with the patient’s values. Existing informed consent assessment tools assess knowledge and values. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on what specific elements need to be discussed or considered in the consent process for genetic tests.Methods: We performed a systematic review to identify all factors involved in the decision-making and consent process about genetic testing, from the perspective of patients. Through (...) public databases, we identified studies reporting factors that influence the decision to accept or decline genetic testing. Studies were included if they reported the perspective of patients or at-risk individuals. All articles were thematically coded.Results: 1989 articles were reviewed: 70 met inclusion criteria and 12 additional articles were identified through the references of included studies. Coding of the 82 articles led to the identification of 45 factors involved in decision-making and consent, which were initially divided into three domains: in favor of, against or with an undetermined influence on genetic testing. Each factor was also divided into three subdomains relating to the informed choice concept: knowledge, values or other. The factors in the “other” subdomain were all related to the context of testing (e.g. timing, cost, influence of family members, etc), and were present in all three domains.Conclusions: We describe the network of factors contributing to decision-making and consent process and identify the context of genetic testing as a third component to influence this process. Future studies should consider the evaluation of contextual factors as an important and relevant component of the consent and decision-making process about genetic tests. Based on these results, we plan to develop and test a more comprehensive tool to assess informed consent for genetic testing. (shrink)

This is an important new book about human motivation, about the reasons people have for their actions. What is distinctively new about it is its focus on how people see or understand their situations, options, and prospects. By taking account of people's understandings, Professor Schick is able to expand the current theory of decision and action. The author provides a perspective on the topic by outlining its history. He defends his new theory against criticism, considers its formal structure, and shows (...) at length how it resolves many currently debated problems: the problems of conflict and weakness of will, Allais' problem, Kahneman and Tversky's problems, Newcomb's problem, and others. The book will be of special interest to philosophers, psychologists, and economists. (shrink)

One important concern regarding implantable Brain Computer Interfaces is the fear that the intervention will negatively change a patient’s sense of identity or agency. In particular, there is concern that the user will be psychologically worse-off following treatment despite postoperative functional improvements. Clinical observations from similar implantable brain technologies, such as deep brain stimulation, show a small but significant proportion of patients report feelings of strangeness or difficulty adjusting to a new concept of themselves characterized by a maladaptive je ne (...) sais quoi despite clear motor improvement. Despite the growing number of cases in the DBS literature, there is currently no accepted or standardized tool in neuroethics specifically designed to capture the phenomenological postoperative experience of patients implanted with DBS or BCI devices. Given potential risks of postoperative maladaptation, it is important for the field of neuroethics to develop a qualitative instrument that can serve as a shared method for capturing postoperative variations in patient experience of identity and agency. The goal of this article is to introduce an instrument we have developed for this purpose and call for further neuroethical efforts to assess the phenomenology of implantable brain device use. (shrink)

We argue that a fashionable interpretation of the theory of natural selection as a claim exclusively about populations is mistaken. The interpretation rests on adopting an analysis of fitness as a probabilistic propensity which cannot be substantiated, draws parallels with thermodynamics which are without foundations, and fails to do justice to the fundamental distinction between drift and selection. This distinction requires a notion of fitness as a pairwise comparison between individuals taken two at a time, and so vitiates the interpretation (...) of the theory as one about populations exclusively. (shrink)

Building upon a non-standard understanding of evolutionary process focusing on variation and persistence, I will argue that communities and ecosystems can evolve by natural selection as emergent individuals. Evolutionary biology has relied ever increasingly on the modeling of population dynamics. Most have taken for granted that we all agree on what is a population. Recent work has reexamined this perceived consensus. I will argue that there are good reasons to restrict the term “population” to collections of monophyletically related replicators and (...) interactors, which explains why many existing models in population biology exclude by definition many genuine evolving biological individuals such as communities and ecosystems. By studying a case of community evolution (a symbiotic termite–fungus community), we will see that it is variation that is important to evolutionary processes, not populations. Variation within a population is only one of many types of variation that can lead to evolution by natural selection. The upshot of focusing on variation is that cases of community and ecosystem adaptive change become tractable in evolutionary terms. I will show that complex emergent individuals such as communities and ecosystems cannot be fully accommodated by conventional population/reproduction models but can be accommodated by variation/persistence models. (shrink)