Dans une société où l’enfant peut être pris dans la confusion identitaire comme support d’affirmation des adultes, qu’il s’agisse de la mère ou du père, un meilleur accompagnement de la prise de place de l’homme dans l’univers de la petite enfance constitue une garantie pour l’avenir. Le fait que le père prenne sa place aux côtés du tout-petit permettra au garçon devenu adulte de ne pas chercher éternellement la mère derrière la femme et à la petite fille de ne pas (...) chercher systématiquement le père derrière l’homme. Les éternels clivages issus de la domination entre les sexes pourront alors aussi commencer à se fissurer. (shrink)

Socially responsible investments (SRI) suffer from a lack of investments from individual investors, despite their positive attitudes toward SRI. This attitude–behavior gap is a serious issue, as SRI is often perceived as a way to promote sustainable development. We investigate nudges, especially the default option, as a way to encourage SRI. In a pre-registered study conducted in October 2021 with 1050 US investors, we pit four nudges against one another to encourage individual investors to invest in SRI. All nudges significantly (...) increased investment in SRI compared with the control group. Making SRI the default option with frictions to opt-out is the most efficient intervention. This is closely followed by a default option without friction to opt out and option partitioning, which are not significantly different from each other. Precommitment, although statistically significant, has a modest effect on investment in SRI and is inferior to the other nudges. Overall, the two types of default as well as option partitioning are significant and impactful solutions for increasing investment in SRI. (shrink)

In this article, we present a few lessons we learnt in the establishment of the Sciences Po médialab. As an interdisciplinary laboratory associating social scientists, code developers and information designers, the médialab is not one of a kind. In the last years, several of such initiatives have been established around the world to harness the potential of digital technologies for the study of collective life. If we narrate this particular story, it is because, having lived it from the inside, we (...) can provide an intimate account of the surprises and displacements of digital research. Founding the médialab in 2009, we knew that we were leaving the reassuring traditions of social sciences to venture in the unexplored territory of digital inscriptions. What we couldn't foresee was how much such encounter would change our research. Buying into gospel of Big Data, we imagined that the main novelty of digital research came from handling larger amounts of data. We soon realized that the interest of digital inscriptions comes instead from their proliferating diversity. Such diversity encouraged us to reshape our professional alliances, research practices and theoretical perspectives. It also led us to overcome several of the oppositions that used to characterize social sciences and to move in the direction of a more continuous sociology. (shrink)

We present two case studies from contemporary biology in which we observe conflicts between established and emerging approaches. The first case study discusses the relation between molecular biology and systems biology regarding the explanation of cellular processes, while the second deals with phylogenetic systematics and the challenge posed by recent network approaches to established ideas of evolutionary processes. We show that the emergence of new fields is in both cases driven by the development of high-throughput data generation technologies and the (...) transfer of modeling techniques from other fields. New and emerging views are characterized by different philosophies of nature, i.e. by different ontological and methodological assumptions and epistemic values and virtues. This results in a kind of conflict we call “epistemic competition” that manifests in two ways: On the one hand, opponents engage in mutual critique and defense of their fundamental assumptions. On the other hand, they compete for the acceptance and integration of the knowledge they provide by a broader scientific community. Despite an initial rhetoric of replacement, the views as well as the respective audiences come to be seen as more clearly distinct during the course of the debate. Hence, we observe—contrary to many other accounts of scientific change—that conflict results in the formation of new niches of research, leading to co-existence and perceived complementarity of approaches. Our model thus contributes to the understanding of the pluralization of the scientific landscape. (shrink)

In this paper, we discuss some problems and prospects of interdisciplinary encounters by focusing on philosophy of science as a case study. After introducing the case, we give an overview about the various ways in which philosophy of science can be interdisciplinary in Section 2. In Section 3, we name some general problems concerning the possible points of interaction between philosophy of science and the sciences studied. In Section 4 we compare the advantages and risks of interdisciplinarity for individual researchers (...) and institutions. In Section 5, we discuss interdisciplinary PhD programs, in particular concerning two main problems: increased workload and the quality of supervision. In the final Section 6, we look at interdisciplinary careers beyond the PhD. (shrink)

Individuals’ spatial position is affected by social factors. The majority of studies correlating spatial position and social factors have used methods with drawbacks. A more complete method was developed by Dolado & Beltran (2011) in captive animals. The present study aimed to apply a modified version of this method in two semi-free-ranging macaque groups. The proposed method divides group’s surroundings into different subareas, selecting different points in each subarea and calculating the coordinates of these points. We filmed each group and (...) analyzed the videos using an activated time transition recording to determine the individuals’ coordinates. With these data, we calculated spatial variables, allowing us to obtain groups’ spatial patterns. The current method improves on previous procedures and could be applied to larger study areas and groups than the method of Dolado & Beltran (2011), thus representing a viable option for studying spatial distribution patterns in semi-free-ranging macaque groups. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a formalization of fuzzy logic and obtain some results concerning the composition, exchange and compatibility with propositional connectives of fuzzy quantifiers, modifiers and qualifiers in this setting.

The history of twentieth-century life sciences is not exactly a new topic. However, in view of the increasingly rapid development of the life sciences themselves over the past decades, some of the well-established narratives are worth revisiting. Taking stock of where we stand on these issues was the aim of a conference in 2015, entitled “Perspectives for the History of Life Sciences”. The papers in this topical collection are based on work presented and discussed at and around this meeting. Just (...) as the conference, the collection aims at exploring fields in the history of life sciences that appear understudied, sources that have been overlooked, and novel ways of engaging with this material. The papers convened in this collection may not be representative of the field as a whole; but we feel that they do indicate some elements that have received emphasis in recent years, and may become more central in the years to come, such as the history of previously neglected contexts and domains of the life sciences, the question of continuity and change on the level of practices, the history of complexity and diversity in twentieth-century life sciences and the reconsideration of the relationship between history and philosophy of life sciences. (shrink)

Model organisms became an indispensable part of experimental systems in molecular developmental and cell biology, constructed to investigate physiological and pathological processes. They are thought to play a crucial role for the elucidation of gene function, complementing the sequencing of the genomes of humans and other organisms. Accordingly, historians and philosophers paid considerable attention to various issues concerning this aspect of experimental biology. With respect to the representational features of model organisms, that is, their status as models, the main focus (...) was on generalization of phenomena investigated in such experimental systems. Model organisms have been said to be models for other organisms or a higher taxon. This, however, presupposes a representation of the phenomenon in question. I will argue that prior to generalization, model organisms allow researchers to built generative material models of phenomena – structures, processes or the mechanisms that explain them – through their integration in experimental set-ups that carve out the phenomena from the whole organism and thus represent them. I will use the history of zebrafish biology to show how model organism systems, from around 1970 on, were developed to construct material models of molecular mechanisms explaining developmental or physiological processes. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungDer Artikel führt den Begriff der epistemischen Konkurrenz ein. Im Gegensatz zu „wissenschaftliche Kontroverse“ beschreibt er eine Situation, in der sich zwei Forschungsfelder gegenseitig als mit demselben Bereich von Phänomen befasst wahrnehmen, wobei ihre methodischen Ansätze und theoretischen Erklärungen jedoch so unterschiedlich sind, dass ein offener Konflikt über die Wahrheit oder Falschheit bestimmter Aussagen oder die Genauigkeit in der Anwendung einer Methode nicht stattfindet. Nichtsdestotrotz streben beide Parteien danach, die maßgebliche Erklärung der entsprechenden Phänomene anzubieten. Indem die erweiterte Gemeinschaft der (...) Forschenden oder die Öffentlichkeit einen Ansatz als maßgeblich anerkennt, handeln sie als eine dritte, gewissermaßen neutrale Partei, die einen Preis vergibt, um den die anderen Parteien konkurrieren. Der Artikel beschreibt das Verhältnis von Genetik und Entwicklungsbiologie um 1900 als epistemische Konkurrenz. Diese Forschungsfelder geben unterschiedliche Erklärungen für die Phänomene der organischen Reproduktion. Die Erklärungen unterscheiden sich bezüglich der Formbegriffe und entsprechend hinsichtlich der Begriffe der Vererbung von Aspekten der Form eines Organismus. Zudem basieren die Erklärungen der beiden Felder auf unterschiedlichen Arten kausalen Schließens, die in unterschiedliche experimentelle Ansätze eingebettet sind. Diese Unterschiede können als Instanzen eines allgemeineren Unterschieds zwischen der Tradition der Naturgeschichte, die sich mit Unterschieden zwischen Organismen auseinandersetzt, und der Tradition der Anatomie, die sich mit den Teilen der Organismen beschäftigt, angesehen werden. Dieses Bild der Genetik und Entwicklungsbiologie als Zweige unterschiedlicher fest verankerter Traditionen widerspricht dem Narrativ der Trennung des Begriffs der Vererbung von dem der Entwicklung im Zuge einer Trennung der Disziplinen der Genetik und der Embryologie, das in der Historiographie der Biologie nach wie vor weit verbreitet ist. (shrink)

For the first time this volume makes Jean-Pierre Meunier's influential thoughts on the film experience available for an English-speaking readership. Introduced and commented by specialists in film studies and philosophy, Meunier's intricate phenomenological descriptions of the spectator's engagement with fiction films, documentaries and home movies can reach the wide audience they have deserved ever since their publication in French in 1969.

This paper examines various ways in which philosophy of science can be interdisciplinary. It aims to provide a map of relations between philosophy and sciences, some of which are interdisciplinary. Such a map should also inform discussions concerning the question “How much philosophy is there in the philosophy of science?” In Sect. 1, we distinguish between synoptic and collaborative interdisciplinarity. With respect to the latter, we furthermore distinguish between two kinds of reflective forms of collaborative interdisciplinarity. We also briefly explicate (...) how complexity triggers interdisciplinarity. In Sect. 2, we apply the distinctions of Sect. 1 to philosophy of science and analyze in which sense different styles of philosophy of science are interdisciplinary. The styles that we discuss are a synoptic-general, a reflective-general, a reflective-particular, a particular-embedded and a descriptive or normative style. (shrink)

Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Volume 45, Issue 3, Page 373-383, September 2022.

Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Volume 45, Issue 3, Page 373-383, September 2022.

À partir d’une analyse des diverses conceptions de l’éducation dans les contextes historiques et culturels du Niger, de la Réunion et de l’Amazonie brésilienne, nous allons nous focaliser sur leur interaction, et notamment sur la capacité du système scolaire à s’ouvrir à d’autres formes d’éducation, comme les savoirs et savoir-faire traditionnels. L’exemple du Niger montre comment un système qui ignore la diversité et refuse une dialectique des formes de connaissance conduit à l’échec scolaire et au rejet de l’école par une (...) partie importante de la population. À la Réunion, si l’école coranique s’ouvre à la diversité, ce n’est pas le cas de la forme scolaire qui continue à rejeter et à exclure les élèves qui lui sont socialement et culturellement éloignés. Dans l’Amazonie brésilienne, nous constatons que c’est par la reconnaissance de la diversité culturelle et le métissage des différentes formes de savoir à l’intérieur de l’école qu’il est possible de favoriser la réussite scolaire et le désir d’école.Drawing on an analysis of the various approaches to education in the historical and cultural contexts of Niger, Reunion Island and the Brazilian Amazonia, we’ll focus our attention on their interaction, and more particularly on the ability of the school system to open up to other forms of education, such as traditional knowledge and know-how. Through the Niger case, we will see how a system which disregards diversity and refuses dialectical forms of knowledge leads to school failure and rejection of school by a major part of the population. In Reunion Island, while Koranic schools are going along with diversity, current educational policies do not, and continue to reject and exclude pupils with a different social and cultural background. The Brazilian Amazonia case will show that the acceptance of cultural diversity and the intermixing of various forms of knowledge within the school can lead to school success and to the desire to learn. (shrink)

Même si le concept d'idéologie remonte dans ses premiers emplois à Destutt de Tracy, il est sans contredit un concept pour lequel le marxisme réclame un privilège. C'est à Karl Marx que l'on reconnaît le rôle d'instigateur de cette problématique.L'interprétation classique du concept d'idéologie oriente cette problématique vers l'aspect de détermination sociale des idées telle la sociologie de la connaissance qui l'identifie à des problèmes de fausse conscience, d'illusions, de justifications, etc. Que l'on se réfère à Lukacs, à Mannheim et (...) encore récemment à Althusser, le problème de l'idéologie se pose en termes de conscience, de représentation déterminée par des conditions socio-économiques. (shrink)