Le titre de cette étude suggère de traiter trois termes, à premier vue, sans aucun lien. En effet, quel peut être le lien entre l’homosexualité et la Bible? Ou celui entre l’homosexualité et les sciences cognitives? Et finalement, quel lien peut-il y avoir entre ces trois termes à première vue juxtaposés? Il y a une réponse à chacune de ces trois questions et nous proposons d’explorer ces réponses dans le cadre de cette étude. Notre thèse consiste à défendre que (...) les sciences et plus précisément les sciences cognitives peuvent contribuer à la discussion sur l’homosexualité dans un cadre théologique (et/ou ecclésial). (shrink)

Née en dehors du champ biblique, la sémiotique n'a pas seulement croisé son chemin, elle s'y est fortement engagée. Retraçant l'itinéraire de A.-J. Greimas concevant la sémiotique comme une méthodologie qui a recours à divers processus descriptifs et analytiques pour faire émerger la signification d'un texte, A. Pénicaud aborde dans une seconde partie la “ sémiotique biblique ” comme telle. En s'intéressant à la Bible, à partir des années 1970 en France surtout, la sémiotique tentait de porter la rigueur (...) jusque dans le territoire jusque là le plus réfractaire à une approche scientifique : la Bible considérée exclusivement dans sa dimension littéraire, en tant que “ texte seul ”. Au terme de sa réflexion, A. Pénicaud évoque les incidences d'une évolution de la sémiotique biblique sur la pratique concrète.Although born outside of the biblical field, semiotics not only crossed its path, it strongly implanted itself there. Retracing the itinerary of A.J. Greimas, who conceived semiotics as a methodology that has recourse to diverse descriptive and analytical processes allowing the meaning of a text to emerge, A. Pénicaud deals with, in the second part, "biblical semiotics " as such. The interest of semiotics in the Bible, especially in France starting in 1970, attempted to bring rigor into the field, until then very resistant to a scientific approach: the Bible considered exclusively in its literary dimensions as "text only "At the end of his reflection A. Pénicaud evokes the occurrence of an evolution of biblical semiotics on concrete practice. (shrink)

ArgumentThe paper focuses on a research project launched by Norwegian psychiatrists immediately following World War II. The project sought to investigate the roots of quislingism through psychiatric research on the collaborators. Considered with hindsight, however, the methodology of the project seems puzzlingly shallow. The paper discusses whether this was due to a general lack of adequate methodology in the contemporaneous sciences, or whether the explanation must be sought in the project's social and historical context. Ultimately, I conclude that considerable weight (...) must be placed on the latter explanation, and that the general political ostracism of the collaborators in the postwar years played a major role in the psychiatrists' attitude. (shrink)

The first part of this study is a reflection on the writings of Lowi and Briefs, and deals with the transition from the ideal of liberty to interest-group liberalism in the United States. In the second part I offer an analysis of Hegel’s attempt to combine the ideals of justice and liberty within a political economy. The third part deals with further issues of economic justice raised by the Bishops’ recent Pastoral Letter.

A comprehensive account of denial viewed not only psychoanalytically but also philosophically.

The concept of merit good is a problematic concept in economic theory. The concept was introduced in 1956 by Richard Musgrave. In 1990, on the occasion of an international conference on the concept of merit good, John Head wrote that the concept of merit good raises methodologically difficult and controversial issues. The concept raises doubt about the ultimate normative authority of the consumer sovereignty principle. I will demonstrate that the concept deserves the attention of the philosophical profession for multiple reasons.

This paper examines the claim of G.W.F. Hegel that chemical thinking-the method of thinking employed in chemistry-marks a significant advance upon meCHANistic thinking-the method of thinking characteristic of physics. This is done in the context of Mancur Olson's theory of collective action and public goods. The analogy between the efficiency of a catalyst in bringing about chemical transformation and the function of leaders in free human society in developing latent groups to provide public goods is explored.

What follows is an argument that can be used to justify the introduction of philosophical, and specifically ethical, discourse into a wide range of university courses. The argument advanced is, we hope, both sufficiently formal to convince administrators, and sufficiently broad to convince students, of the practical importance that at least one area of philosophy has for the successful pursuit of even the most praxis-oriented career.

This article investigates young second language learners’ participation in explanatory discourse during peer play in preschools. Twenty-seven 5-year-old Turkish-speaking children in Norwegian preschools were studied in peer play. Characteristics of conversational moves and of various explanatory types, as well as how such types were related to children’s academic language skills in Turkish and Norwegian were examined. Children, both native and non-native speakers of Norwegian, mostly produced explanations spontaneously, while requests for explanations occurred only occasionally. Second language learners who attended play (...) groups with much explanatory peer talk had higher academic language skills. In particular, we discuss whether second language learners with more Principle-based Explanations had higher academic language skills in Norwegian. The contribution of peer play explanatory talk to second language learners’ academically mediated language skills is discussed. (shrink)

In this paper, I will first draw attention to the central fact that Freud describes in his article on “Negation”; i.e., “recognition of the unconscious on the part of the ego is expressed in a negative formula.” Technically, such a negative formula is called denial. Second, I will ask whether such denials are accidental or necessary in the life of consciousness. To answer this question I will use the philosophical system of Hegel. I will make use of his ideas at (...) two levels of generality. At the first level of generality, I will analyze one of Hegel’s most famous and influential passages: “Lordship and Bondage.” Hegel presents this passage as a necessary moment in the development of consciousness. If we find in that passage a necessary denial, then we can argue that denial is not just a fact but is, at least in any philosophical anthropology akin to Hegel’s, a necessity. At the second level of generality, we will then quote two statements by Hegel, one about the nature of the will and one about the path to truth for consciousness. Both statements will be clarified by Hegel’s analysis of “Lordship and Bondage.” Both statements will be used to demonstrate that Hegel affirmed explicitly the necessity of negativity in the life of consciousness. (shrink)

The first part of this study is a reflection on the writings of Lowi and Briefs, and deals with the transition from the ideal of liberty to interest-group liberalism in the United States. In the second part I offer an analysis of Hegel’s attempt to combine the ideals of justice and liberty within a political economy. The third part deals with further issues of economic justice raised by the Bishops’ recent Pastoral Letter.

This essay offers a philosophical analysis of the role of the father-figure in the family. I argue that a Cartesian approach to this question is useless, and that Hegel, while he offers the beginning of an adequate analysis, falls short of the multiple-function model which an adequate analysis requires.

The concept of merit good is a problematic concept in economic theory. The concept was introduced in 1956 by Richard Musgrave. In 1990, on the occasion of an international conference on the concept of merit good, John Head wrote that the concept of merit good raises methodologically difficult and controversial issues. The concept raises doubt about the ultimate normative authority of the consumer sovereignty principle. I will demonstrate that the concept deserves the attention of the philosophical profession for multiple reasons.

The concept of merit good is a problematic concept in economic theory. The concept was introduced in 1956 by Richard Musgrave. In 1990, on the occasion of an international conference on the concept of merit good, John Head wrote that the concept of merit good raises methodologically difficult and controversial issues. The concept raises doubt about the ultimate normative authority of the consumer sovereignty principle. I will demonstrate that the concept deserves the attention of the philosophical profession for multiple reasons.

Adriaan Peperzak’s knowledge of the history of philosophy and his Continental philosophical nexus gives his Before Ethics a unique and welcome flavor. In eight essays on contemporary ethics written between 1969 and 1997, Peperzak analyzes our utilitarian, Kantian-deontological, and virtue-oriented ethical convictions in a thorough and enlightening manner.