Connects the work of Merleau-Ponty to environmental studies.

This essay argues that in overlooking the assault on the autonomy, unity, and tenacity of the classical world underway in Europe after 1880, historians have failed to appreciate an important element of historiographical reorientation at the fin de siècle. This second "revolution" in humanistic scholarship challenged the conviction of the educated elite that European culture was rooted exclusively in classical antiquity in part by introducing as evidence non-textual forms of evidence; the testimony of artifacts allowed writers to reach beyond romantic-nationalist (...) histories toward the identification of cultural areas, defined by morphological similarities, and to disrupt the traditional categories of the civilized and the barbaric. The essay focuses on a relatively obscure Austrian art historian, Josef Strzygowski, whose insistence upon Europe's dependence on Oriental forms and upon the superior historical value of material, over textual, evidence provided critics of philologically-based humanism with two important argumentative avenues. Strzygowski also represents a para-academic type, whose rise to power and prestige contributed to the so-called "decline of the German mandarins." In sketching his career, the essay attempts to show how this "decline" is bound up with the waning institutional and popular status of Renaissance humanism--and a corresponding rise of biologistic Germanophilia--in the two intellectual milieux Strzygowski inhabited . A final section suggests that this antihumanist crusade contributed not only to the articulation of racist historiography, but also to the eventual transference of politico-moral legitimacy to a non-elitist, anthropological definition of culture. (shrink)

_Philosophically explores the topic of emotional depth._.

ABSTRACTThe recognition of emotional facial expressions is often subject to contextual influence, particularly when the face and the context convey similar emotions. We investigated whether spontaneous, incidental affective theory of mind inferences made while reading vignettes describing social situations would produce context effects on the identification of same-valenced emotions as well as differently-valenced emotions conveyed by subsequently presented faces. Crucially, we found an effect of context on reaction times in both experiments while, in line with previous work, we found evidence (...) for a context effect on accuracy only in Experiment 1. This demonstrates that affective theory of mind inferences made at the pragmatic level of a text can automatically, contextually influence the perceptual processing of emotional facial expressions in a separate task even when those emotions are of a distinctive valence. Thus, our novel findings suggest that language acts as a contex... (shrink)

DNA sequence variation is abundant in wild populations. While molecular biologists use genetically homogeneous strains of model organisms to avoid this variation, evolutionary biologists embrace genetic variation as the material of evolution since heritable differences in fitness drive evolutionary change. Yet, the relationship between the phenotypic variation affecting fitness and the genotypic variation producing it is complex. Genetic buffering mechanisms modify this relationship by concealing the effects of genetic and environmental variation on phenotype. Genetic buffering allows the build-up and storage (...) of genetic variation in phenotypically normal populations. When buffering breaks down, thresholds governing the expression of previously silent variation are crossed. At these thresholds, phenotypic differences suddenly appear and are available for selection. Thus, buffering mechanisms modulate evolution and regulate a balance between evolutionary stasis and change. Recent work provides a glimpse of the molecular details governing some types of genetic buffering. BioEssays 22:1095–1105, 2000. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

Algorithms are powerful because we invest in them the power to do things. With such promise, they can transform the ordinary, say snapshots along a robotic vacuum cleaner’s route, into something much more, such as a clean home. Echoing David Graeber’s revision of fetishism, we argue that this easy slip from technical capabilities to broader claims betrays not the “magic” of algorithms but rather the dynamics of their exchange. Fetishes are not indicators of false thinking, but social contracts in material (...) form. They mediate emerging distributions of power often too nascent, too slippery or too disconcerting to directly acknowledge. Drawing primarily on 2016 ethnographic research with computer vision professionals, we show how faith in what algorithms can do shapes the social encounters and exchanges of their production. By analyzing algorithms through the lens of fetishism, we can see the social and economic investment in some people’s labor over others. We also see everyday opportunities for social creativity and change. We conclude that what is problematic about algorithms is not their fetishization but instead their stabilization into full-fledged gods and demons – the more deserving objects of critique. (shrink)

Since Darwin, there has been a long and arduous struggle to understand the source and maintenance of natural genetic variation and its relationship to phenotype. The reason that this task is so difficult is that it requires integration of detailed, and as yet incomplete, knowledge from several biological disciplines, including evolutionary, population, and developmental genetics. In this ‘post‐genomic’ era, it is relatively easy to identify differences in the DNA sequence between individuals. However, the task remains to delineate how this abundant (...) genetic diversity actually contributes to phenotypic diversity. This necessitates tackling the problem of hidden genetic variation. Genetic polymorphisms can be conditionally cryptic, but have the potential to contribute to phenotypic variation in particular genetic backgrounds or under specific environmental conditions. A recent paper by Lauter and Doebley highlights the contribution of hidden genetic variation to traits characterizing the morphological evolution of modern maize from its wild grass‐like progenitor teosinte.1 This work is the first to demonstrate hidden variance for selected (agronomically ‘adaptive’) traits in a well‐characterized model for morphological evolution. BioEssays 24:685–689, 2002. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

As part of a volunteering program, a medical student learns the story of a sick infant whose survival was wholly dependent on modern medicine. The family was pacified by believing, during pregnancy, that the fetus would be healthy. Poor counseling and unethical physician behavior led to the trauma of the family’s struggle to keep its baby alive, happy, and as healthy as possible. The need for adequate, thorough, and individualized counseling is a critical and still unfulfilled need in patient care.

Gratitude has been promoted as a beneficial emotional experience. However, gratitude is not universally experienced as positive. The current work examines whether an autonomous interpersonal style is associated with differential experience of gratitude. Study 1 found an inverse relationship between trait autonomy and both trait gratitude and positivity of response to receiving a hypothetical benefit from a friend. Study 2 replicated the finding that those higher in autonomy report less trait gratitude, and also demonstrated an inverse relationship between autonomy and (...) valuing gratitude. Study 3 found that those higher in autonomy had more self-image goals and reduced compassionate goals in relationships, and that valuing gratitude mediated the relationship between autonomy and relationship goals. These results show a consistent inverse relationship between autonomy and the experience and valuing of gratitude, suggesting that degree of autonomy is one determinant of whether gratitude is experienced as positive. (shrink)

This study was conducted to determine the appropriateness and potential of a set of books as a resource for infusing character education in a social studies classroom. Based on a research review, the literature chosen was the past decade (2001–2011) of Newbery-Award winning books. As recipients of perhaps the most prestigious award for children's literature, Newbery books were of exceptional quality and widely available. Narrative analysis ( Neuendorf, 2002 ) allowed us to explore their suitability for character education. The Josepheson (...) Institute's character pillars, the Katz and Braly List of Verbal Stereotypes, identification of moral dilemmas in these stories, and factors of race, gender, and disability provided tools for coding elements as part of the narrative-analysis methodology. Additional literacy and social studies activities were developed to enhance peer interaction, a component determined essential to future programs ( Berkowitz & Bier, 2005 ). Ultimately these 10 books were deemed viable tools for addressing character education. The authors found a key benefit of our process to be the messy self-examination, the inward look at one's own values, beliefs, and behaviors, and the subsequent interaction and collaboration that either validated or challenged those beliefs. (shrink)

Despite the burgeoning literature on professionalism in other health professions, psychology lags behind in the level of attention given to this core competency. In this article, we review definitions from other health professions and how they address professionalism. Next, we review how this competency evolved within health service psychology (HSP), and we propose a definition. We offer an approach for assessing professionalism within HSP. Consideration is given to strategies and methods for providing effective education and training in this multifaceted competency. (...) Finally, recommendations are made for creating a culture of professionalism within HSP and honoring psychology’s social contract with multiple publics. (shrink)

Background The COVID-19 pandemic causes moral challenges and moral distress for healthcare professionals and, due to an increased work load, reduces time and opportunities for clinical ethics support services. Nevertheless, healthcare professionals could also identify essential elements to maintain or change in the future, as moral distress and moral challenges can indicate opportunities to strengthen moral resilience of healthcare professionals and organisations. This study describes 1) the experienced moral distress, challenges and ethical climate concerning end-of-life care of Intensive Care Unit (...) staff during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and 2) their positive experiences and lessons learned, which function as directions for future forms of ethics support. Methods A cross-sectional survey combining quantitative and qualitative elements was sent to all healthcare professionals who worked at the Intensive Care Unit of the Amsterdam UMC - Location AMC during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey consisted of 36 items about moral distress (concerning quality of care and emotional stress), team cooperation, ethical climate and (ways of dealing with) end-of-life decisions, and two open questions about positive experiences and suggestions for work improvement. Results All 178 respondents (response rate: 25–32%) showed signs of moral distress, and experienced moral dilemmas in end-of-life decisions, whereas they experienced a relatively positive ethical climate. Nurses scored significantly higher than physicians on most items. Positive experiences were mostly related to ‘team cooperation’, ‘team solidarity’ and ‘work ethic’. Lessons learned were mostly related to ‘quality of care’ and ‘professional qualities’. Conclusions Despite the crisis, positive experiences related to ethical climate, team members and overall work ethic were reported by Intensive Care Unit staff and quality and organisation of care lessons were learned. Ethics support services can be tailored to reflect on morally challenging situations, restore moral resilience, create space for self-care and strengthen team spirit. This can improve healthcare professionals’ dealing of inherent moral challenges and moral distress in order to strengthen both individual and organisational moral resilience. Trial registration The trial was registered on The Netherlands Trial Register, number NL9177. (shrink)

À partir d’une expérience clinique d’intervenant en institutions spécialisées confrontées à des adolescents violents, je tente de proposer un système d’intelligibilité aux réverbérations et aux bouclages interactifs que ces sujets suscitent. Dans cette perspective, je développe les trois propositions suivantes : – ces sujets utilisent le site institutionnel pour déployer une scène archaïque de déliaison incorporée qui duplique la pathologie et l’effondrement du conteneur groupal primordial; – les violences et les matériaux psychiques déliés, hautement pathogènes, associés à cette catastrophe primordiale (...) sont exportés et implantés dans la psyché des praticiens. Ils vont se loger électivement dans les failles personnelles et groupales de l’équipe institutionnelle, engendrant des mécanismes spéculaires et la formation d’alliances inconscientes pathologiques; – la relance d’un processus de symbolisation dépend des capacités des équipes à identifier, contenir, élaborer et transformer ces mouvements psychiques spécifiques. (shrink)

Peut-on s'entendre en matière d'esthétique? Y a-t-il une objectivité possible des jugements dans ce domaine marginal de la philosophie? La question du sens commun dans la Critique de la faculté de juger, semble, aux dires de certains, mener directement à cette problématique contemporaine. Nous ne reprendrons pas ici les multiples articles et ouvrages sur le sensus communis parus dans la dernière décennie à la suite de l'impact conceptuel du thème de la rationalité communicationnelle. Notre intention est plutôt, au-delà de la (...) “dérive” du célèbre paragraphe 40 vers une idée plus actuelle de “consensus”, de repérer les tensions entre le versant transcendantal et le versant empirique du sens commun qui surgissent significativement à l'occasion de cette dérive. Avant d'aborder le sens esthétique défini dans la troisième Critique et de le confronter aux interprétations qui nous semblent plus déterminantes comme celles de L. Ferry de J.-F. Lyotard ou de J. Habermas nous voudrions d'abord examiner l'usage général de cette notion dans l'histoire de la philosophie précritique pour vérifier ensuite la spécificitÉ qu'elle acquiert chez Kant. (shrink)

Cette édition commentée nous transmet un texte de la pratique, qui vient compléter les travaux récents sur les lois somptuaires en Italie, notamment ceux sur l'Émilie-Romagne, qui s'appuient plutôt sur des sources normatives. Elle offre plus que tout autre un incroyable catalogue de la créativité du secteur de la mode dans la Florence du xive siècle. Juste après le départ du Duc de Brienne (juillet 1343), le nouveau gouvernement édicta une provision, la « Prammatica delle vesti delle donne fi...

Self‑sufficiency of the Good and dependency of Being? From Republic to Sophist. Even thought Parmenides doesn’t use αὐτάρκης and any noun derived from this root, the Being is conceived by him as self‑sufficient (v. 8,33). Plato, for its part, never uses this term concerning the intelligible reality ; however, in the Sophist, he allusively challenges Parmenides self‑sufficiency of Being and outlines an ontology that is conflicting with it. On the other hand self‑sufficiency is explicitly ascribed by Plato to the human (...) good (Philebus, 20d, 67a), to the divine world (Timaeus, 33d), and also to the virtuous man (Republic, 387d). This paper aims to demonstrate that these facets (theological or anthropological) of self‑sufficiency are consistent with the supremacy of the idea of the Good in the Republic, which can be understood as a structural kind of self‑sufficiency. (shrink)

" L'expérience esthétique, n'est autonome, écrit Adorno, que lorsqu'elle se débarrasse du goût culinaire, la voie qui y conduit passe par le désintéressement.... ", à ce lointain écho de la rupture transcendantale au sein de l'Esthétique du goût, à ce déni pur et simple de la sensibilité et du plaisir " sensuel et grossier ", comme principes du goût, on préfèrera, ici, une présentation non morale, ou non kantienne, de la notion de goût ; une réflexion qui, de Voltaire et (...) Montesquieu à Brillat-Savarin, prend en compte le goût " lui-même " et non seulement sa métaphore ; on cherchera le raffinement et la délicatesse du goût non seulement dans les sphères supérieures de l'existence, mais aussi dans les relations primordiales de la vie, celle de la consommation, de la préparation et de la production, ainsi que le voulait Charles Fourier, (beau) frère de Brillat-Savarin. Dans les deux essais, ici étudiés, s'impose, en effet, la dimension organique et sensuelle mais néanmoins esthétique du goût, dans les choses de la nature et de l'art. L'Essai sur le goût de Montesquieu et La Physiologie du goût de Brillat-Savarin, témoignent, dans des domaines distincts mais étroitement liés, de l'Esthétique comme " science de la sensibilité ". Par leur rapprochement, on entend montrer que le goût n'est pas une " chose mentale " mais l'affaire de tous les sens, que l'âme qui goûte est l'âme qui sent. On cherchera à dépasser le divorce, qui semble s'être installé, entre le jugement esthétique et le plaisir esthétique, on tentera par là, de restaurer la continuité entre les deux pôles de la sensibilité gustative et de redonner, par une réévaluation du goût culinaire, une assise réelle, vitale et réconfortante à la notion de goût, comme sentiment délicat. (shrink)

Si la référence des cyniques anciens à l’animal comme modèle est bien connue, il est plus difficile d’en comprendre le sens, car ils ne sont pas les seuls dans l’Antiquité à évoquer l’animal dans un contexte éthique. En partant de la définition aristotélicienne du paradigme, il est dans un premier temps montré que l’animal intervient parfois chez les cyniques dans le cadre d’une induction qui présuppose qu’homme et animal appartiennent à un même genre moral. Mais l’animal apparaît également, dans d’autres (...) contextes, à titre d’exemplum épidictique : il montre de façon immédiate et évidente à l’homme la vertu et le genre de vie qu’il doit imiter. Ces deux types d’exemplarité reposent sur une conception analogique des rapports entre animalité et humanité, typique de la pensée antique, mais l’originalité du cynisme, par rapport, par exemple, au platonisme, réside dans le fait que la vertu attribuée à l’animal n’est pas conçue comme intrinsèquement inférieure à celle de l’homme. Cependant, comme toute imitation, l’imitation de l’animal repose sur une interprétation préalable de ce qui en lui est à imiter. Ce cercle herméneutique explique que, parfois, l’animal dans le cynisme ait un statut de paradigme négatif. (shrink)

(1997). Philosophie au masculin? Georg Simmel et les images de la virilité à l'aube de l'ère nazie. The European Legacy: Vol. 2, No. 6, pp. 1011-1030.

Self‑sufficiency of the Good and dependency of Being? From Republic to Sophist. Even thought Parmenides doesn’t use αὐτάρκης and any noun derived from this root, the Being is conceived by him as self‑sufficient (v. 8,33). Plato, for its part, never uses this term concerning the intelligible reality ; however, in the Sophist, he allusively challenges Parmenides self‑sufficiency of Being and outlines an ontology that is conflicting with it. On the other hand self‑sufficiency is explicitly ascribed by Plato to the human (...) good (Philebus, 20d, 67a), to the divine world (Timaeus, 33d), and also to the virtuous man (Republic, 387d). This paper aims to demonstrate that these facets (theological or anthropological) of self‑sufficiency are consistent with the supremacy of the idea of the Good in the Republic, which can be understood as a structural kind of self‑sufficiency. (shrink)