This paper demonstrates the premise that the Utopian language created for the narrative is more than something that only gives the impression of foreignness to the invented nation of Utopia, a mere representation of an outside culture. It is rather a semiotic system devised by the author specifically with the goal of transmitting a message. As such it is indispensable to a fuller understanding of More’s work, and therefore worthy of proper investigation. Consequently, the paper analyses the occurrences of the (...) invented language throughout the author’s text and out of it, in Peter Giles’s writings, word by word, tracing the probable etymologies and meanings, comparing cognate or correlated words in other languages, while conciliating the use of the glossopoeia with the presumptions of semiotics. Some theorists and commentators contribute considerably to the present discussion: Culler (1981. The pursuit of signs. London: Routledge, Romm), James (1991. More’s strategy of naming in the Utopia. Sixteenth Century Journal 22(2). 173–183), Sacks (1999. Introduction to Thomas More’s Utopia. In Utopia. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s), as well as More’s and Peter Giles’s own elicitations. The result of such reflections is a theory on the critique of the names and the artificial words coined by Thomas More. (shrink)

En sciences biomédicales, diverses techniques d’imagerie permettent l’exploration d’organismes vivants, aussi bien pour le diagnostic que pour l’expérimentation. En se penchant sur l’une d’entre elles, la scintigraphie, on montre que l’utilisation d’un instrument complexe revêt toujours un caractère expérimental, même lorsque l’on entend l’utiliser à des fins d’observation diagnostique. La liste des tests qui sont à entreprendre sur la machine à diverses échelles de temps démontre que les chercheurs ne peuvent jamais l’utiliser en lui accordant leur confiance de manière inconditionnelle. (...) L’observation est encadrée par l’expérimentation, démontrant aussi l’actualité du cadre de Claude Bernard qui met en avant le raisonnement expérimental comme catégorie englobante, plutôt qu’une distinction qui demeure toujours floue entre observation et expérience. (shrink)

En sciences biomédicales, diverses techniques d’imagerie permettent l’exploration d’organismes vivants, aussi bien pour le diagnostic que pour l’expérimentation. En se penchant sur l’une d’entre elles, la scintigraphie, on montre que l’utilisation d’un instrument complexe revêt toujours un caractère expérimental, même lorsque l’on entend l’utiliser à des fins d’observation diagnostique. La liste des tests qui sont à entreprendre sur la machine à diverses échelles de temps démontre que les chercheurs ne peuvent jamais l’utiliser en lui accordant leur confiance de manière inconditionnelle. (...) L’observation est encadrée par l’expérimentation, démontrant aussi l’actualité du cadre de Claude Bernard qui met en avant le raisonnement expérimental comme catégorie englobante, plutôt qu’une distinction qui demeure toujours floue entre observation et expérience. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Journal of the History of Ideas 67.3 (2006) 523-545 [Access article in PDF] Enlightenment! Which Enlightenment? Jonathan Israel Institute for Advanced Study Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment, 4 vols., editor in chief Alan Charles Kors; eds. Roger L.Emerson, Lynn Hunt, Anthony J. La Vopa, Jacques Le Brun, Jeremy D. Popkin, C. Bradley Thomson, Ruth Whelan, and Gordon S. Wood (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). On the surface it (...) might well seem that during the last fifteen or twenty years the Enlightenment understood as a new way of thinking about reality and society has receded more and more from its former privileged status as a pivotal turning-point in the making of the modern world, and especially as any kind of leap forward in the making of a freer, more rational, and better humanity. Under the combined assaults of Post-Structuralism, Postmodernism, Postcolonialism, the rise of the new social history (and not least Robert Darnton's critique of the old intellectual history), the Enlightenment conceived as a movement of ideas appears to be not just firmly in retreat and increasingly under siege but also fragmenting into disparate remnants with no coherent overall profile.Yet, paradoxically, there are grounds for conjecturing that the Enlightenment despite all this, has actually been becoming, under the surface, an even more crucial and robust force than it was before, much like a powerfully compressed spring being pushed back but ready to rebound with greater impetus than ever. One reason for thinking this is the extensive new material unearthed in the last few years, mostly by colleagues in continental Europe, about the origins of "radical," in the sense of egalitarian, secularist, Spinozist, and anti-colonial, thought. A second and possibly more important [End Page 523] reason is that the terrible events of the last several years have provided thoughtful readers with more than just a glimpse of the nightmare world apt to result from enshrining as a new set of privileged and prevailing values "difference," a thoroughgoing relativism, and the doctrine that all sets of values, even the most questionable kinds of theology, are ultimately equivalent.The inevitable recoil from Postmodernist "relativism" will presumably strengthen the appeal, at least in some quarters, of the Radical Enlightenment's claim that the improvement of human life inescapably involves emancipating men from the collective force of autocracy, intolerance, and prejudiced thinking, and establishing a predominantly secular morality, no less than it involves promoting the ideals of equality (sexual and racial), democracy, individual liberty, and a comprehensive toleration. Indeed, recent developments on all continents seem likely to lend new weight to the radical philosophes' argument that the moral basis of their theorized egalitarianism, democracy, toleration, and individual freedom, despite the arguments of the Postmodernists (which by no means lack weight in certain contexts), is after all concretely superior in terms of reason and moral equity not just to what one faith or traditional system or another contends, in opposition to its claims, but absolutely—that is in ethical and political as well as social terms. One may confidently predict that such a development will render the Enlightenment both more compelling and much harder to disparage than it has appeared to be in the wake of the Postmodernist upsurge in recent years.The prestige and status of the Enlightenment Western and Eastern, still conspicuously low for the present, may powerfully rebound, then, and in all parts of the world; and this for the simple reason that "Enlightenment thinking," as one scholar recently expressed it, "remains the best foundation for any genuinely progressive politics not simply in the West but in those states that suffered most at its [i.e. the West's] hands."1 To anyone authentically committed to democracy, toleration, and personal liberty this seems undeniable and, what is more, as we see in Bayle, Diderot, the Abbé Raynal, Lahontan, Van den Enden, and other radical writers of the Enlightenment, the roots of anti-colonialism itself, as well as the modern idea of racial, ethnic, and sexual equality, are undoubtedly to be found precisely in the "philosophical" thought-world of the Enlightenment—and especially the... (shrink)

Comment le peuple juif fut inventé2 s’ouvre par les lignes suivantes : « Le présent ouvrage n’est pas une œuvre de pure fiction ; c’est un texte d’histoire. Toutefois, il commencera par plusieurs récits dont la source se trouve dans une mémoire mêlée de pas mal d’imaginaire. On sait que dans les coulisses de l’écriture scientifique..

Les progrès scientifiques ont creusé un fossé entre médecine universitaire et médecine pratique. Les relations humaines entre malades et médecins sont allées en s'appauvrissant. Aussi convient-il de réintroduire dans le dialogue thérapeutique le sujet perdu de la médecine, la personne du malade. C'est la seule voie pour parer au danger de déshumanisation qui menace les institutions hospitalières et l'art de guérir tout entier. Le but de ce livre est de combler le fossé entre les deux médecines en proposant une formation (...) psychologique appropriée du praticien. Lucien Israël est agrégé de médecine et de psychiatrie, professeur de Psychiatrie à l'Université de Strasbourg et Chef de service au Centre Hospitalier de Strasbourg. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Beliefs Access to truth Cogito ergo sum Mathematical certainty Classical logic C. I. Lewis' empiricism Access as a metaphor J. F. Fries and K. Popper Voluntarism and linearity One‐way justification Beginning in the middle Justification, contextual and comparative Justification in the empirical sciences Circularity versus linearity Democratic controls Interactionism.

A. L. Kroeber, who together with C. Kluckhohn wrote a now classical review of the concept of culture (1958), claimed that the most significant accomplishment of anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century was the extension and clarification of the concept of culture. In the book mentioned they analyzed about 300 different definitions of the concept. In a critical review of Kroeber's and Kluckhohn's book their colleague L. A. White contests Kroeber's claims and writes: “On the contrary, I (...) believe that confusion has increased as conceptions of culture have been multiplied and diversified” (1954, p. 461). (shrink)

Uses a social contingency analysis derived from behavioral psychology to compare research and practice. The components of a contingency (occasion, behavior, and consequence) present in a variety of research, treatment, and educational situations are discussed. Subjective terms such as intent, coercion, and consent are analyzed by means of a behavioral approach. Implications include the possible value of a collegial, symmetrical relationship between the professional and the individual in both research and practice domains. Such a relationship is consistent with current dissatisfaction (...) with the social fiduciary model of contractual relations between professionals and individuals. According to this model, one party exercises powers in fulfillment of a trust from the other party. There has been increasing rejection on the part of the public of this "let-us-do-the-driving," "you're-in-good-hands-with-Allstate" orientation adopted by some professionals. The suggested alternative approach, a social contractual model, has the advantage of recognizing this rejection. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (shrink)

Politics, and in particular the question of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, is currently dealt with rather through fiction and art, and much less through genuine political actions, is a strong sign of the failure of politics as a positive, voluntaristic political project. Rap /hip hop music, the most naturally political art, does not have the political agenda anymore. The particular history or Israeli rap illustrates this process in a striking way, embodying the recent evolution of the Israeli society. The country was (...) established on a political project and previously unknown social generosity. Yet, the economical and geopolitical context of Israel, as well as increasingly difficult relationship with Palestinians, made its citizens surprisingly uninterested in rethinking the political project of the country. Individual preoccupations, also economical, family and friends’ problems, started to occupy the central place in art and in daily life in Israel, and politics has been definitively associated to corruption and self-interest of an elite. Rap reflects this evolution, is its condensed version. (shrink)

The article engages with feminist care theories and practices of community building in the context of armed conflict. Based on an ethnographic study of the security concerns of Israeli citizens living in the Gaza Envelope and their positions regarding the siege on Gaza, we find that in this region, vernacular security is closely linked with care, social reproduction and communitarianism. Communitarian ethics is intertwined with separatist, state-centred discourses on national ‘trauma and resilience’. In this context, Jewish-Israeli women care for their (...) own communities as a way to ensure survival and civilian resilience. They generally disengage from moral dilemmas concerning the suffering of Palestinians. On a deeper level, the practice of security as care combines the hegemonic Israeli security paradigm of women’s soldierhood with an institutional and cultural obsession with trauma-oriented activities. Showing strong ethno-nationalist identifications, these women tend to overlook and even support the state’s violent siege on Gaza, which is seen as a zero-sum game. We conclude that the gendered dimensions of communitarian ethics in Israel are relevant for understanding the limitations and challenges of contemporary cosmopolitan feminism and a global politics of care. (shrink)

Shadow on the Steps: Time Measurement in Ancient Israel. SBL Resources for Biblical Study, vol. 64. By David Miano. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010. Pp. xx + 267, illus. $34.95.