Institutions in France are not yet well prepared to respond to allegations of scientific misconduct. Following a serious allegation in late 1997. INSERM,* the primary organization for medical and health-related research in France, began to reflect on this subject, aided by scientists and jurists. The conclusions have resulted in establishing a procedure to be followed in cases of alleged misconduct, and also in reinforcing the application of good laboratory practices within each laboratory. Guidelines for authorship practices and scientific assessment must (...) also be considered. Even though each institution must remain responsible for responding to allegations of scientific misconduct within its doors, INSERM would like to see national, European, and international co-ordination about the methods of such response. (shrink)

This paper investigates a particular philosophical puzzle via an examination of its status in the writings of Wittgenstein. The puzzle concerns negation and can take on three interrelated guises. The first puzzle is how not-p can so much as negate p at all – for if p is not the case, then nothing corresponds to p. The second puzzle is how not-p can so much as negate p at all when not-p rejects p not as false but as unintelligible – (...) for if p is unintelligible, then p is nothing but scratches and sounds and does not seem apt for negation. And the third puzzle is how “not” could be anything but hopelessly equivocal if it sometimes (per the first puzzle) requires, and sometimes (per the second puzzle) precludes the intelligibility of p. The paper investigates these three puzzles, their respective structures, and their relations to each other. The second puzzle is expounded as the centre of gravity, and in countering two objections to the threefold puzzle, a special predicament is expounded with regard to the second puzzle’s concern with unipolar propositions – propositions that do not admit of an intelligible negation. The text concludes by indicating the first steps that could potentially lead us out of the threefold puzzle. (shrink)

Axel Honneth a élaboré une critique de la société moderne au prisme du concept de reconnaissance. Jacques Rancière a construit une théorie de la politique moderne à partir du concept de mésentente. Ils s'attachent tous deux à analyser les logiques d’exclusion et de domination qui structurent les sociétés contemporaines. Dans un précieux dialogue, les deux philosophes explorent les affinités et les tensions entre leurs approches respectives. Ils contribuent ainsi à renouveler le cadre d’une théorie critique et à repenser les conditions (...) du changement social et politique. La discussion est enrichie par des textes des deux penseurs, et elle est précédée d’une présentation substantielle qui remet en perspective ce dialogue critique. (shrink)

De l'Antiquité à la Renaissance, la notion d'harmonie a lié les mathématiques, l'astronomie et la musique. Renouant avec cette tradition millénaire, Jean-Philippe Uzan vous invite à écouter le chant des étoiles, les vibrations du cosmos et le cri du big bang. Une balade cosmique entre sciences et musique, vertigineuse et inspirante. Jean-Philippe Uzan est physicien théoricien, spécialiste de la théorie du big bang. Il est directeur de recherche au CNRS/Institut d'astrophysique de Paris et directeur adjoint de (...) l'Institut Henri Poincaré. (shrink)

A large body of literature looks at how firms develop and maintain their reputation. Little is known, however, about factors leading to a damaged corporate reputation. In this article, the authors compare two sets of predictors of reputational damage following a reported breach of norms: the characteristics of the breach and the characteristics of the actor reporting the breach. Theoretically, the authors argue that the latter is likely to prevail over the former. The authors test this proposition in the highly (...) normative context of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Building on a global data set of over 8,600 CSR-related norm breaches, directed against 451 firms on the Fortune ranking reputation over the 2006-2009 period, the authors find empirical support for the idea that reputation damage is not really driven by the severity and novelty of the allegation, but by the type of source reporting the issue as well as the credibility of this source. Hence, these results lend some support to a socially constructed view of reputational damage, in which being portrayed by prominent actors as deviating from the norm is more important than the actual deviation from the goal of the norm itself. (shrink)

Axel Honneth is best known for his critique of modern society centered on a concept of recognition. Jacques Rancière has advanced an influential theory of modern politics based on disagreement. Underpinning their thought is a concern for the logics of exclusion and domination that structure contemporary societies. In a rare dialogue, these two philosophers explore the affinities and tensions between their perspectives to provoke new ideas for social and political change. -/- Honneth sees modern society as a field in which (...) the logic of recognition provides individuals with increasing possibilities for freedom and is a constant catalyst for transformation. Rancière sees the social as a policing order and the political as a force that must radically assert equality. Honneth claims Rancière's conception of the political lies outside of actual historical societies and involves a problematic desire for egalitarianism. Rancière argues that Honneth's theory of recognition relies on an overly substantial conception of identity and subjectivity. While impassioned, their exchange seeks to advance critical theory's political project by reconciling the rift between German and French post-Marxist traditions and proposing new frameworks for justice. (shrink)

Axel Honneth’s philosophical reflections always had significant historical dimensions, but it is only recently, in Recognition. A Chapter in the History of European Ideas, that he has attended to the history of recognition as a concept. This essay examines the cogency and the implications of this turn to intellectual history in the theory of recognition. The first section summarises the main historical claims put forward by Honneth. Section two raises critical doubts regarding three aspects of his narrative: the cultural contexts (...) that are said to have influenced particular conceptions of recognition; the conceptions of recognition that are supposed to be tied to national cultures; and the method of linking particular meanings of recognition to national cultures. The third section broadens the scope and attempts to show why this turn to intellectual history, despite some shortcomings, raises tantalising questions for recognition theory, and beyond it, for critical theory. (shrink)

Signs and States, programme financé par l'ERG (European Research Council), a pour but d'explorer la sémiologie de l'Etat du XIIIe siècle au milieu du XVIIe siècle. Textes, performances, images, liturgies, sons et musiques, architectures, structures spatiales, tout ce qui contribue à la communication des sociétés politiques, tout ce qu'exprime l'idéel des individus et leur imaginaire, est ici passé au crible dans trois séries de rencontres dont les actes ont été rassemblés dans une collection, Le pouvoir symbolique en Occident (1300-1640). Ces (...) volumes, adoptant une perspective pluridisciplinaire et comparative dans une visée de long terme, combinent études de cas, analyses conceptuelles et réflexions plus théoriques. Et les réponses à ce questionnaire, issu d'une réflexion sur une histoire culturelle poursuivie sur plus de cinq siècles, remettent en cause une histoire de l'Occident latin où l'on opposerait Eglise et Etat : la mutation culturelle engendrée par la réforme grégorienne qui, tout en assurant d'abord le triomphe de la papauté, a donné à l'Etat moderne les moyens d'assurer sa propre légitimité en créant les conditions d'une révolution du système de communication. Elle engendre un partage du pouvoir symbolique et des processus de légitimation avec l'Etat : la capacité de ce dernier à se légitimer par le consentement de la société politique en dehors de la contingence religieuse est une spécificité de l'Occident latin, clé de l'essor des Etats modernes européens. (shrink)

« La méthode est seule capable d’empêcher les jugements précipités, de faire en sorte que l’entendement soit informé comme il se doit, qu’il puisse connaître et affirmer le vrai et le bien, avant que la volonté ne donne son acquiescement. Il faut que d’une grande clarté en l’entendement suive une grande inclination en la volonté pour que nous puissions nous croire plus libres, puisque non assujettis aux pulsions et à la contingence, en obéissant à la détermination rationnelle. ».

La thèse de cet ouvrage est qu'il faut prendre soin du monde et qu'une "anthropologie relationnelle" permet de penser ce soin. Une pensée spécifique de la relation devient particulièrement nécessaire en médecine, dans le monde du travail et vis-à-vis de l'environnement. Elle entend s'opposer à une attitude peu soigneuse qui se répand à l'égard des personnes et des différents contextes de vie. L'exigence du soin, se faisant catégorie critique, permet ainsi de relier des domaines souvent envisagés comme distincts où, à (...) rebours de l'exploitation générale du monde, elle invite à porter attention aux relations humaines et aux différentes formes de vulnérabilité. Si la philosophie du care occupe désormais une place importante au sein de la philosophie contemporaine, cet ouvrage fait apparaitre la diversité des philosophies du soin, montre la pluralité des champs qu'elles investissent et l'unité d'une démarche d'attention au monde. (shrink)

Jean-Philippe Deranty, Beyond Communication: A Critical Study of Axel Honneth's Social Philosophy Content Type Journal Article Category Book Review Pages 497-500 Authors Jørgen Pedersen, The Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, Bergen, Norway Journal Critical Horizons: A Journal of Philosophy & Social Theory Online ISSN 1568-5160 Print ISSN 1440-9917 Journal Volume Volume 11 Journal Issue Volume 11, Number 3 / 2010.

The book will be an indispensable resource for anyone interested in contemporary philosophy and the social sciences.

We consider a situation where an individual is facing an uncertain situation, but may costly alter his knowledge of the uncertainties. We study in this context how risk aversion may modify the individual search behavior. We consider a one-armed bandit problem (where one arm is safe and the other is risky) and study how the agent risk aversion can change the sequence of arms selected. The main result is that when the utility function is more concave, the agent has more (...) chances to select the safe arm. We also discuss how search is affected by risk aversion. (shrink)

Jean-Philippe Pierron | : Dans leur réflexion sur le raisonnement moral, critique d’une approche rationaliste stricte, les théories du care et les philosophies travaillant à une compréhension enrichie de la raison pratique se sont attachées à mettre en valeur l’importance éthique qu’il y a à envisager la perspective de l’autre. Elles se sont concentrées à cette fin sur le travail de l’imagination. On montre ici que l’éthique du care de Gilligan, l’éthique de la narration de Nussbaum et l’éthique (...) de la sollicitude ricoeurienne, quoique différentes, se renforcent mutuellement à partir d’une compréhension renouvelée du rôle de l’imagination dans la morale. Si l’enquête psychologique de Gilligan, la philosophie de la littérature chez Nussbaum et l’herméneutique du texte chez Ricoeur diffèrent, ces trois auteur.es ont en commun de ne pas se satisfaire des méfaits d’une rationalité instrumentale qui bride la créativité pratique des actrices morales et acteurs moraux. Il appartiendrait à l’imagination éthique de prendre la mesure de la complexité des situations morales et d’en suivre les variations subtiles, afin de prendre soin de formes de vies rendues invisibles ou d’existences vulnérables. | : Critical of a strictly rationalist approach, theories of care and philosophies working toward a deeper understanding of practical reason have valorized the ethical importance of envisioning the perspective of the other in their reflection on moral reasoning. To this end, they have focussed on the task of the imagination. Here it is shown that, however different, Gilligan’s ethics of care, Nussbaum’s narrative ethics, and Ricoeur’s ethics of solicitude mutually reinforce each other through a renewed comprehension of the role of the imagination in the philosophy of action. Although Gilligan’s psychological investigation, Nussbaum’s philosophy of literature, and Ricoeur’s textual hermeneutics differ, these three authors have something in common: a discontent with the misdeeds of an instrumental rationality that shackles the practical creativity of moral actors. It is up to the ethical imagination to size up the complexity of moral situations and to appreciate their subtle variations, in order to take care of forms of life made invisible and vulnerable existences. (shrink)

In this essay, I take up James Conant and Cora Diamond’s suggestion that “to take the difference between saying and showing deeply enough is not to give up on showing but to give up on picturing it as a ‘what’ ”. I try to establish that the Tractatus’s talk of “showing” is more coherent than is usually appreciated, that it is indeed a key to the internal unity of the book, and that it positively helps us to work our way (...) into the practice of philosophy, which its author understood as a practice of logical clarification. Thus, it is not a stretch of latent nonsense whose sole function is to conjure up an illusion of sense for the sake of displaying its disintegration. While Wittgenstein’s concept of showing is not meant to “make up for” the impossibility of saying certain things, neither does it stand in need of being “redeemed.” Whether or not it is to prove ultimately coherent, the Tractatus’s talk of “showing,” I shall argue, is certainly not to be “thrown away” in the name of the Tractarian conception of logic, for the simple reason that it essentially belongs with it. (shrink)

Jean-Philippe Perreault | : Au point de départ de cette réflexion sur l’innovation religieuse, deux considérations : d’une part, il existe nécessairement de la nouveauté et de la créativité religieuses dans la mesure où les religions évoluent, s’adaptent et demeurent vivantes ; d’autre part, la jeunesse est elle-même pensée et construite comme source de nouveauté et de progrès. L’innovation religieuse se trouve conséquemment au centre du thème de recherche « jeunes et religions ». Sous forme de « notes (...) de recherche », l’intention ici est d’identifier quelques repères permettant une problématisation de la question de l’innovation religieuse dans l’étude du rapport des jeunes aux religions. Pour ce faire, nous interrogerons les conditions d’une telle innovation, tant sur le plan empirique qu’épistémologique : de quelle innovation est-il question, qui innove et innove en regard de quoi? Quelle épreuve épistémologique devrions-nous faire subir aux principaux concepts pour nous assurer de leur opérationnalité, de leur fécondité et de leur scientificité pour nos travaux? | : At the starting point of this reflection on religious innovation, there are two considerations : on the one hand, there is necessarily novelty and religious creativity insofar as religions evolve, adapt and remain alive ; on the other hand, youth is itself thought and constructed as a source of novelty and progress. Therefore, religious innovation is at the center of the research theme “youth and religions”. In the form of “research notes”, the intention here is to identify a few benchmarks that allow a problematization of religious innovation question in the study of relationship between young people and religions. To do so, we will question the conditions for such an innovation, both empirically and epistemologically : what innovation is in question, who innovates and innovates compared to what? What epistemological test should the main concepts undergo to ensure their operationality, their fertility and their scientificity for our work? (shrink)

In recent years, theorists have contended that we should move to a mode of social organisation where work and the values attached to it are no longer central, a ‘post-work society’. For these theorists, the modern ideology of work is intrinsically unjust, even irrational and no longer suited to the challenges of our time. The article presents an alternative response to the problems of work and employment. Rather than moving to a ‘post-work’ society, the article argues that we should transform (...) the world of work, precisely by keeping in view why working is important to individuals and the community. In fact, it is not realistic to believe that human societies could ever do without work. Because human societies are by necessity work societies, and work, if organised correctly, entails many goods, we cannot really, and we should not, wish work away. (shrink)

This article argues that Axel Honneth’s ethics of recognition offers a robust model for a renewed critical theory of society, provided that it does not shy away from its political dimensions. First, the ethics of recognition needs to clarify its political moment at the conceptual level to remain conceptually sustainable. This requires a clarification of the notion of identity in relation to the three spheres of recognition, and a clarification of its exact place in a politics of recognition. We suggest (...) that a return to Hegel’s mature theory of subjectivity helps specify the relationship between the normative demand for autonomous identity and its realization in and through politics. (shrink)

"A study of the cultural politics of loss and mourning in France from 1978 to the present. Focuses on national identity, secularism, Jacobin republicanism, and political-cultural exceptionalism"--Provided by publisher.

This article briefly presents some of the main features of the notion of “centrality of work” within the framework of the “psychodynamic” approach to work developed by Christophe Dejours. The paper argues that we should distinguish between at least four separate but related ways in which work can be said to be central: psychologically, in terms of gender relations, social-politically and epistemically.

À partir d’une analyse détaillée, y compris historique de la dynamique de nos systèmes de soins, la première partie de ce texte entend montrer à la fois que les succès, les difficultés ou les contre-performances de ces systèmes configurent largement les questions éthiques qui s’y posent aujourd’hui et rendent difficile la conception d’une éthique collective dans le domaine des soins de santé. Sur base de ce constat, la deuxième partie de ce texte plaide pour une conception globale de l’éthique de (...) l’accès aux soins, qui puisse réellement relever les défis actuels de cette question. Ce plaidoyer repose lui-même sur une analyse critique des différentes justifications éthiques de l’égalité d’accès aux soins et des discours en termes de limites et de rationnement, pour se terminer par le souhait d’une autre rationalisation des systèmes de soins, du développement d’une éthique contextuelle, notamment en milieu hospitalier, et d’un renforcement de la démocratie sanitaire. (shrink)

In this paper, we propose a framework capable of dealing with anaphora and ellipsis which is both general and algorithmic. This generality is ensured by the compination of two general ideas. First, we use a dynamic semantics which reperent effects using a monad structure. Second we treat scopes flexibly, extending them as needed. We additionally implement this framework as an algorithm which translates abstract syntax to logical formulas. We argue that this framework can provide a unified account of a large (...) number of anaphoric phenomena. Specifically, we show its effectiveness in dealing with pronominal and VP-anaphora, strict and lazy pronouns, lazy identity, bound variable anaphora, e-type pronouns, and cataphora. This means that in particular we can handle complex cases like Bach–Peters sentences, which require an account dealing simultaneously with several phenomena. We use Haskell as a meta-language to present the theory, which also consitutes an implementation of all the phenomena discussed in the paper. To demonstrate coverage, we propose a test suite that can be used to evaluate computational approaches to anaphora. (shrink)

Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte, EarlyView.

Dans ce texte, j’analyse l’échange entre Socrate et Calliclès pour défendre la thèse selon laquelle Socrate ne réussit qu’à réfuter les paroles de Calliclès. À la fin de la joute dialectique, Socrate finit par aider Calliclès à renforcer sa position en lui montrant pourquoi il doit rejeter l’hédonisme. Pour établir cette thèse, j’analyse en premier lieu le premier discours de Calliclès (Gorg. 482c-486a). En second lieu, j’examine certains éléments formels de l’ἔλεγχος socratique pour rendre compte de la stratégie argumentative de (...) Socrate. En troisième lieu, j’examine l’échange au sujet de la tempérance et de l’hédonisme. Enfin, je termine mon texte en suggérant pourquoi Platon fait cette mise en scène. -/- In this article, I analyse the debate between Socrates and Callicles to argue that Socrates only succeeds in refuting Callicles’ words,. In the end, Socrates helps Callicles solidify his position by showing him why he must reject hedonism. To make this claim, I first analyse Callicles’ great speech (Gorg. 482c- 486a). Second, I examine certain formal elements of the Socratic elenchus to make sense of Socrates’ argumentative strategy. Third, I examine the debate about temperance and hedonism. Finally, I end by suggesting why Plato stages the dialectical exchange as he does. (shrink)

In this text, I confront Aristotle and Epicurus’ political anthropology to rethink the modern opposition between communitarian and social contract theories. Contrary to the sec- ondary literature that opposes Aristotle and Epicurus according to the nature-convention con- troversy, I establish a dialogue between them to show that according to Epicurus, being part of a political community is essential to happiness. First, I show that according to Aristotle and Epicurus, human beings possess a political capacity in that they can share a (...) conception of jus- tice communicated through language. Second, by analysing the Aristotelian meaning of what something is “by nature”, I show that human beings are also, according to Epicurus, by nature political animals. (shrink)

This article aims to present some of the main results of contemporary French psychodynamics of work. The writings of Christophe Dejours constitute the central references in this area. His psychoanalytical approach, which is initially concerned with the impact of contemporary work practices on individual health, has implications that go well beyond the narrow psycho-pathological interest. The most significant theoretical development to have come out of Dejours's research is that of Yves Clot, whose writings will constitute the second reference point in (...) this article. The article attempts to demonstrate that the thick definition of work that Dejours and Clot operate with, as a result of their focus on its psychological function, speaks directly, in substantial and critical ways, to all disciplines with an interest in work, to philosophers, social theorists and social scientists, including economic theorists. (shrink)