The Russian philosopher Nikolai Onufrievich Lossky considered himself a Leibnizian of sorts. He accepted parts of Leibniz’s doctrine of monads, although he preferred to call them ‘substantival agents’ and rejected the thesis that they have neither doors nor windows. In Lossky’s own doctrine, monads have existed since the beginning of time, they are immortal, and can evolve or devolve depending on the goodness or badness of their behavior. Such evolution requires the possibility for monads to reincarnate into the bodies of (...) creatures of a higher level on the scala perfectionis. According to this theory, a monad can evolve by being progressively reincarnated multiple times through a sort of process of metamorphosis from the level of the most elementary particles all the way up to the level of human beings or even higher. Lossky argues that the works of Leibniz contain scattered elements of such a systematic doctrine of reincarnation. He attempts to reconstitute this doctrine in an article that appeared both in Russian and German in 1931. The Russian version, ‘Ученiе Лейбница о перевоплощенiи какъ метаморфозѣ’, was published in the Сборникъ Русскаго института въ Прагѣ, vol. 2, 1931, pp. 77–88. The German version appeared under the title ‘Leibniz’ Lehre von der Reinkarnation als Metamorphose,’ in Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, vol. 40, n. 2, 1931, pp. 214–226. The content of the Russian and German versions is roughly the same, except for the omission, in the German version, of a mention of David Hume in the second sentence and of one paragraph and a half at the end of the article. The following is a translation of this article. I translated the text from the Russian version, which was in all appearances written first, but I also took the German version into account. The original pagination is added in angle brackets. Angle brackets are used wherever the additions are mine. — Frédéric Tremblay. (shrink)

In his book "Organic Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Chemistry." Justus Liebig attacked "the plant physiologists" for their support of the humus theory and for their general ignorance of chemistry. Two leading botanists, Matthias Schleiden and Hugo von Mohl, responded by sharply criticizing Liebig for his lack of knowledge of plants and his misrepresentation of the views of plant physiologists. The origin and character of this debate can be understood in part through the temperaments of Liebig and Schleiden, (...) but can be viewed also as a contest for control between the well-established discipline of chemistry and a potential discipline of plant physiology that had as yet acquired no stable institutional foundations. (shrink)

Leibniz' Bedeutung für die Entwicklung der amerikanischen Philosophie ist bisher wenig erforscht worden. In diesem Aufsatz untersuche ich den Beitrag zweier amerikanischer Idealisten der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts zur Leibniz-Forschung. Der erstere, Frederic Henry Hedge, ein enger Mitarbeiter Emersons und eine zentrale Figur der transcendentalist movement, legte die erste Übersetzung der Monadologie ins Englische vor und schrieb die erste wichtige wissenschaftliche Abhandlung über Leibniz in einer amerikanischen Zeitschrift. Der zweite, H. A. P. Torrey, von prägendem Einfluß auf die Gedanken (...) John Deweys, schrieb eine Reihe kritischer Essays zur Théodicée, die Auswirkungen auf Deweys Buch über Leibniz hatten. In diesem Aufsatz gebe ich eine Überblick der Arbeiten von Hedge und Torrey, bewerte ihre Arbeiten zu Leibniz und untersuche einige Aspekte ihres Einflusses auf das amerikanische Denken. Ich folgere, daß Leibniz' Einfluß auf die amerikanische Philosophie größer ist als allgemein angenommen und schlage weitere Forschungsmöglichkeiten vor. (shrink)

Frederick II neither tolerated the Schwenckfeldians in Silesia as an independent denomination nor recognized them, but, rather from a legal basis demanded that they be incorporated into the Lutheran Church. With the acknowledgement of the Schwenckfeldian movement as an independant denomination, he would have gone beyond article VII of the Instrumenta Pacis Osnabrigense, jeopardizing future peace negotiations with the House of Habsburg. However, he did promise the Schwenckfeldians that the government would respect their personal faith and conscience and would be (...) willing to protect them from attack, though limited by the reason of state which would be endangered if the fundamental articles of the Christian religion were openly denied. For if these were negated one could not discount the possibility that not only Maria Theresea but also the Protestant and Catholic subjects would take offence, causing tension and diminishing the prosperity of the State. The philosopher of Sanssouci himself held freedom of faith and conscience highly, but felt it had to be subordinate to the welfare of the state. The actual reason for he gave this assurance to the Schwenckfeldians though, was not merely to give his subjects a relative amount of freedom, but, more important, to encourage further immigration into his lands. Frederick II, who saw himself as the first servant of his state, thereby hoped to raise the density of population in relatively depopulated areas, to promote manufacturing and trade, and with it the prosperity of the state. The positive impulse for the attitude of Frederic II against the Schwenckfeldians was therefore in the last analysis based on political motives. His concession of freedom of faith and conscience to the Schwenckfeldians was in principle possible only because he had granted such freedom to all his Silesian subjects - who had to belong to one of the three confessions recognized by the Peace of Westphalia- on the condition that they would not deny reverence to God or subservience to the State. In comparison to the intolerant attitude of many contemporary states which gave their subjects no liberty of faith or conscience, the position which the state of Frederic II hat taken vis-a-vis the Schwenckfeldians in Silesia therefore signifies a great step forward. This position, however, was considerably less than the religious freedom enjoyed by those Schwenckfeldians who emigrated to Pennsylvania. (shrink)

The idea that deep brain stimulation (DBS) induces changes to personality, identity, agency, authenticity, autonomy and self (PIAAAS) is so deeply entrenched within neuroethics discourses that it has become an unchallenged narrative. In this article, we critically assess evidence about putative effects of DBS on PIAAAS. We conducted a literature review of more than 1535 articles to investigate the prevalence of scientific evidence regarding these potential DBS-induced changes. While we observed an increase in the number of publications in theoretical neuroethics (...) that mention putative DBS-induced changes to patients’ postoperative PIAAAS, we found a critical lack of primary empirical studies corroborating these claims. Our findings strongly suggest that the theoretical neuroethics debate on putative effects of DBS relies on very limited empirical evidence and is, instead, reliant on unsubstantiated speculative assumptions probablyin lieuof robust evidence. As such, this may reflect the likelihood of a speculative neuroethics bubble that may need to be deflated. Nevertheless, despite the low number of first-hand primary studies and large number of marginal and single case reports, potential postoperative DBS changes experienced by patients remain a critical ethical concern. We recommend further empirical research in order to enhance theoretical neuroethics work in the area. In particular, we call for the development of better instruments capable of capturing potential postoperative variations of PIAAAS. (shrink)

In the United States at this time, no uniform federal law exists regarding commercial surrogacy, and state statutory schemes vary vastly, ranging from criminalization to legal recognition with contract enforcement. The authors examine how commercial surrogacy agencies utilize the Internet as a means for attracting parents and surrogates by employing emotional cultural rhetoric. By inducing both parents and surrogates to their jurisdiction, agencies circumvent vast discrepancies in state statutory regulative schemes and create a distinct interstate business, absent an efficient regulatory (...) framework or legal recourse in some circumstances. The authors propose a uniform federal regulatory scheme premised upon regulating interstate business transactions to create accountability and legal remedies for both the parents and the surrogate. (shrink)

In this article, we explore the implications of a Rawlsian theory for intergenerational issues. First, we confront Rawls's way of locating his `just savings' principle in his Theory of Justice with an alternative way of doing so. We argue that both sides of his intergenerational principle, as they apply to the accumulation phase and the steady-state stage, can be dealt with on the bases, respectively, of the principle of equal liberty and of the difference principle. We then proceed by focusing (...) on the implications of applying maximin to his steady-state stage. One central claim is that, in principle, Rawlsians should consider not only generational dissavings, but also generational savings, as unfair. This principle suffers a series of exceptions on which we focus in the fourth section of the article. In some cases, growth can be maximin compatible. (shrink)

To conclude that there is enough or not enough evidence demonstrating that deep brain stimulation causes unintended postoperative personality changes is an epistemic problem that should be answered on the basis of established, replicable, and valid data. If prospective DBS recipients delay or refuse to be implanted because they are afraid of suffering from personality changes following DBS, and their fears are based on unsubstantiated claims made in the neuroethics literature, then researchers making these claims bear great responsibility for prospective (...) recipients' medical decisions and subsequent well-being. Our article “Deflating the ‘DBS causes personality’ bubble” reported an increase in theoretical neuroethics publications suggesting putative DBS-induced changes to personality, identity, agency, autonomy, authenticity and/or self and a critical lack of supporting primary empirical studies. This special issue of Neuroethics brings together responses to our initial publication, with our own counter-responses organized according to common themes. We provide a brief summary for each commentary and its main criticisms as well as a discussion of the way in which these responses can: 1) help clarify the meaning of PIAAAS, suggesting supplementary frameworks for understanding the impact of DBS on PIAAAS; 2) provide further empirical evidence of PIAAAS by presenting results from the researchers’ own work; and/or 3) offer a critique of our research approach and/or findings. Unintended postoperative putative changes to PIAAAS remain a critical ethical concern. It is beyond dispute that we need to develop reliable empirical and conceptual instruments able to measure complex cognitive, affective, and behavioural changes in order to investigate whether they are attributable to DBS alone. (shrink)

Owing to an oversight, we noted that the acknowledgement section was missing from the original published version of this paper.

The sense of supernatural agency constitutes a defining characteristic of the religious sphere of life. But what accounts for the continued cross-cultural recurrence of this psychological phenomenon over the course of human history? This paper reviews evidence indicating that the source of panhuman or universal cognitive patterns of thought and behaviour such as this lies in the common characteristics of the evolved human mind. Further, that the sense of the supernatural is constituted by a unique combination of commonly recurring cognitive (...) processes that together give rise to a panhuman conviction in the reality of supernatural agencies able and willing to assist each individual in situations deemed beyond the capacities of that individual. These cognitive processes are driven most acutely by existential anxiety in response to extrinsic physical, economic and social pressures indicating that religiosity is best understood as a social-psychological phenomenon. (shrink)

Philosophical ability, so that the principles chosen for formalization are not trivial or absurd.

In her article, Pascale Hess raises the issue of whether her proposed model may be extrapolated and applied to clinical research fields other than stem cell-based interventions in the brain (SCBI-B) (Hess 2012). Broadly summarized, Hess’s model suggests prioritizing efficacy over safety in phase 1 trials involving irreversible interventions in the brain, when clinical criteria meet the appropriate population suffering from “degenerative brain diseases” (Hess 2012). Although there is a need to reconsider the traditional phase 1 model, especially with respect (...) to first-in-human clinical trials involving novel technologies, the question arises as to whether it is appropriate to advocate for a new model that prioritizes efficacy over safety across all phase 1 clinical research trials involving irreversible interventions in the brain. -/- . (shrink)

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is optimistically portrayed in contemporary media. This already happened with psychosurgery during the first half of the twentieth century. The tendency of popular media to hype the benefits of DBS therapies, without equally highlighting risks, fosters public expectations also due to the lack of ethical analysis in the scientific literature. Media are not expected (and often not prepared) to raise the ethical issues which remain unaddressed by the scientific community. To obtain a more objective portrayal of (...) DBS in the media, a deeper collaboration between the science community and journalists, and particularly specialized ones, must be promoted. Access to databases and articles, directly or through science media centers, has also been proven effective in increasing the quality of reporting. This article has three main objectives. Firstly, to explore the past media coverage of leukotomy, and to examine its widespread acceptance and the neglect of ethical issues in its depiction. Secondly, to describe how current enthusiastic coverage of DBS causes excessive optimism and neglect of ethical issues in patients. Thirdly, to discuss communication models and strategies to enhance media and science responsibility. (shrink)

In their article, Herrera-Ferra et al. (2023) highlight how the progress and implementation of neurotechnology, especially in conjunction with artificial intelligence, have revealed potential impli...

Depuis 2001, les gouvernements successifs ont mis en place différents dispositifs de prévention et de résolution des risques de fragilisation précoce et de rupture ultérieure des parcours scolaires des enfants et des jeunes exposés à des difficultés sociales et/ou familiales. L’acceptation et l’efficacité de ces dispositifs supposent non seulement le remaniement des représentations que parents et professionnels ont acquises les uns des autres, mais aussi l’établissement entre eux d’un climat de confiance et de respect mutuels. Après avoir décrit les tenants (...) et les aboutissants de ces enjeux, une approche co-éducative est promue. Décrite comme une « utopie réaliste », elle n’en vise pas moins à favoriser les conditions de la coopération entre parents et professionnels pour mieux inciter les enfants et les jeunes à reconsidérer avec eux le sens et la pertinence d’une articulation apaisée de l’éducation familiale et de l’éducation scolaire qui leur sont dispensées. (shrink)

L’évolution des concepts de corps et de processus d’animation dans le domaine de la robotique conduit aujourd’hui à définir le concept d’un noyau, ensemble d’algorithmes stables, indépendant des espaces corporels auxquels ils s’appliquent. Il devient alors possible d’étudier la manière dont certaines inscriptions corporelles, considérées comme des variables, structurent le comportement et, à plus long terme, le développement d’un robot. Cette démarche méthodologique peut mener à une approche originale du développement soulignant l’importance d’un corps variable aux frontières en continuelle redéfinition.In (...) the field of robotics, the evolution of the concepts of embodiment and animation processes lead to define the concept of a kernel consisting of a set of stable algorhythms, independent of the specific embodiment on which these algorhythms could be applied. Thus, it becomes possible to study experimentally how particular embodiments, considered as experimental variables, shape the robot’s behaviour and its longer-term developmental patterns. This methodological stance results into a new approach to children development stressing the importance of a continuously changing body. (shrink)

Au cours des guerres d’Indépendance en Amérique hispanique, de nouvelles formes d’autorité politique ont émergé, représentées par les chefs de guerre. Leur autorité se déployait selon une masculinité particulière, fondée sur la valeur guerrière, l’exercice du commandement, et l’invisibilisation du rôle politique des femmes. Ancien employé de ferme, José Antonio Páez devint un redoutable officier cavalier puis général-en-chef. À la faveur de la victoire contre l’Espagne, il s’imposa comme le nouvel homme fort du Venezuela, et engagea la sécession avec la (...) Colombie présidée par Bolívar. Premier président de la République du Venezuela, Páez incarnait une forme de césarisme patriarcal, caractérisé par une forte personnalisation du pouvoir, fondé sur la valorisation de l’homme guerrier, le monopole masculin de la citoyenneté et la métaphore du « père de la nation ». (shrink)

En lisant l’œuvre de Lévy-Bruhl à travers le problème de la causalité mentale, on voit que le concept de participation, emprunté à la philosophie de Malebranche, lui permet de dépasser l’opposition entre deux conceptions : — d’une part, la « causalité naturelle », empruntée à Tylor et à l’associationnisme britannique, qui explique les opérations magiques par des erreurs intellectuelles ; — d’autre part, la « causalité sociale », élaborée par Durkheim et la sociologie française, qui explique les phénomènes moraux et (...) religieux par l’intervention de la « société » comme sujet collectif. Le concept de participation désigne un mode de causalité qui opère au niveau de l’expérience naturelle sans lui ajouter un niveau surnaturel et proprement social : « Cette analyse est comparable à celle de l’imagination chez Bergson et éclaire la réception ambivalente de Lévy-Bruhl dans la phénoménologie et dans le structuralisme. ». (shrink)

Among other issues addressed by Hardt and Negri in Empire, there is the question of the establishment of a revolutionary subjectivity respectful of the specific nature of local struggles: what they call a « community of singularities ». Our aim is to show that a revolutionary subjectivity of this kind can only operate by way of a conversion involving two dimensions. In its prophecy of the future, the book proclaims the imperative of a shift to the verticality of struggles, so (...) that power can be directly confronted. In its genealogy of past struggles, the book invokes St. Augustine’s model of the city of God. What these two dimensions together show is the need for a spiritual power which will throw light on both the intellectual production constitutive of the multitude and on the mode of writing proper to the book entitled Empire, whose aim is to produce this revolutionary subject, doing so by way of an affective strategy. (shrink)

Résumé Lucien Lévy-Bruhl effectue un voyage autour du monde en 1920 qui le conduit à prendre part aux controverses coloniales sur la vaccination aux Philippines. Cet article interroge la signification d’une telle controverse dans le cadre d’une anthropologie positiviste qui prétend totaliser les modes de penser « primitifs » et « civilisé » pour un sociologue typique. En mobilisant les figures de Jules Verne et d’Alfred Dreyfus, il montre que le tour du monde social peut être effectué à partir des (...) accidents qui en interrompent son accomplissement. Le projet philosophique d’une « logique des sentiments » qui a motivé l’anthropologie française depuis Auguste Comte peut alors être reformulé à partir d’une enquête sur les sentinelles qui anticipent les accidents à partir d’une expérience passée. Un tel projet permet de suivre les significations de l’Affaire Dreyfus jusqu’à l’anthropologie de Claude Lévi-Strauss. (shrink)

Comment Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, auteur d'ouvrages sur la philosophie allemande et la "mentalité primitive", peut-il éclairer les enjeux des sciences sociales aujourd'hui? Pour actualiser cette grande figure de la Troisième République, il faut repenser les liens entre le socialisme français et le système colonial à partir de l'affaire Dreyfus. Celle-ci mit à l'épreuve la thèse de Lucien Lévy-Bruhl sur la responsabilité et le conduisit à étudier les formes d'anticipation de l'avenir dans les sociétés sans État. À partir d'archives inédites et d'une (...) hypothèse théorique nouvelle, ce livre retrace les engagements de Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, du soutien des ouvriers au cours de la Première Guerre mondiale à l'aide aux exilés juifs dans les années 1930, et replace l'ethnologie parmi d'autres sciences de la vigilance, comme les statistiques et l'épidémiologie. Il montre ainsi que l'étude des sociétés éloignées permet à la nôtre de se préparer aux catastrophes à partir de l'observation des sentinelles."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

This article proposes a reading of the work of Claude Imbert through the concept of participation. This concept comes from the logical tradition of Plato, in which it designates the inscription of the intelligible within the sensible. But Imbert, following the Stoics, gives it an anthropological turn, showing that it opens onto a reading of the syntaxes by which an event is correlated to another. This turn can be considered as a continuation of the genealogy going from Lévy-Bruhl to Lévi-Strauss (...) in the anthropological reflection on the participation of the intelligible and the sensible. (shrink)

The idea of creation as the free, spontaneous, and joyous play (līlā) of the gods has been a pervasive motif in Indian thought since Vedic times. In the tradition of Advaita Vedānta, however, where the sole Reality is Brahman alone, divine playfulness is given an illusionistic interpretation and līlā becomes an expression of the deceptive power of māyā.

'Peut-être que putain tu as juste un peu besoin de te calmer/calm the fuck down. Je m'appelle Jenny et j'offre des services de coaching stoïcien avec juste un tantinet de grossièreté/dash of profanity/et des résultats', lance sur son site promotionnel avec sa photo souriante en noir-et-blanc une jeune 'coach' à lunettes. 'En tant que coach, annonce un autre du même âge qui pose avec un livre à la main doctus cum libro, j'apporte l'expertise d'un praticien stoïcien professionnel ainsi que la (...) connaissance de la façon dont le cerveau apprend de nouvelles informations. Avec huit ans de pratique stoïcienne quotidienne, je suis le témoignage vivant de son succès. C'est ma passion d'armer les gens avec les techniques mentales pour vivre une vie pleine et calme/full and calm life!' Le néo-stoïcisme est en vogue auprès de la jeunesse, élixir d'endurance pour époque tourmentée. Ce nouveau courant est-il fidèle au geste cynique initial qui inspira jadis Zénon, Cléanthe, et Chrysippe? Fournit-il des réponses adaptées à la dictature écologique qui vient, au culte de la guerre, aux fantasmes du transhumanisme? Il donne en tout cas ici l'occasion d'un retour sur 2300 ans d'histoire d'une philosophie de la liberté humaine, en des temps où celle-ci est de plus en plus déniée"--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Resumen: Este texto es un estudio sobre el consumo de invertebrados marinos y de agua dulce en el sudoeste de Francia desde los principios del siglo XVI hasta el día de hoy. Toma en cuenta alrededor de 100 especies: bivalvos, incluso mejillones de agua dulce; gasterópodas; cefalópodas; crustáceas, incluso cangrejos de río; erizos y anémonas de mar. El artículo propone una historia tan detallada como sea posible de cada especie o grupo de especies cercanas; evoca las evoluciones de sus representaciones (...) sociales, de sus valorizaciones comerciales, de sus preparaciones culinarias, etc. Con su importante litoral sobre el Golfo de Vizcaya y sus ciudades ubicadas tierra adentro, el sudoeste de Francia constituye un área de estudio interesante para pensar la complejidad de los hábitos de consumo de mariscos durante el periodo anterior al desarrollo de los transportes rápidos y a la invención del frio artificial.: This text is a study on the consumption of marine and freshwater invertebrates in Southwest France from the early 16thcentury to the present day. Around 100 species are taken into account: bivalves including river mussels; gastropods; cephalopods; crustaceans including crayfishes; urchins and sea anemones. The article proposes a history as detailed as possible of each species or group of closely related species, including the evolution of their social representations, commercial valuations, culinary preparations, etc. With its important coastline on the Gulf of Gascony and its inland cities, Southwest France forms an interesting study area to think about the complexity of seafood consumption patterns in the era before the development of rapid transports and the invention of artificial refrigeration. (shrink)