Degrowth is the literal translation of 'decroissance', a French word meaning reduction. Launched by activists in 2001 as a challenge to growth, it became a missile word that sparks a contentious debate on the diagnosis and prognosis of our society. 'Degrowth' became an interpretative frame for a new (and old) social movement where numerous streams of critical ideas and political actions converge. It is an attempt to re-politicise debates about desired socio-environmental futures and an example of an activist-led science now (...) consolidating into a concept in academic literature. This article discusses the definition, origins, evolution, practices and construction of degrowth. The main objective is to explain degrowth's multiple sources and strategies in order to improve its basic definition and avoid reductionist criticisms and misconceptions. To this end, the article presents degrowth's main intellectual sources as well as its diverse strategies (oppositional activism, building of alternatives and political proposals) and actors (practitioners, activists and scientists). Finally, the article argues that the movement's diversity does not detract from the existence of a common path. (shrink)

The loss or absence of vision is probably one of the most incapacitating events that can befall a human being. The importance of vision for humans is also reflected in brain anatomy as approximately one third of the human brain is devoted to vision. It is therefore unsurprising that throughout history many attempts have been undertaken to develop devices aiming at substituting for a missing visual capacity. In this review, we present two concepts that have been prevalent over the last (...) two decades. The first concept is sensory substitution, which refers to the use of another sensory modality to perform a task that is normally primarily sub-served by the lost sense. The second concept is cross-modal plasticity, which occurs when loss of input in one sensory modality leads to reorganization in brain representation of other sensory modalities. Both phenomena are training-dependent. We also briefly describe the history of blindness from ancient times to modernity, and then proceed to address themeansthat have been used to help blind individuals, with an emphasis on modern technologies, invasive (various type of surgical implants) and non-invasive devices. With the advent of brain imaging, it has become possible to peer into the neural substrates of sensory substitution and highlight the magnitude of the plastic processes that lead to a rewired brain. Finally, we will address the important question of the value and practicality of the available technologies and future directions. (shrink)

In this article we propose to reflect on the discrepancies around the horizon of appearing in phenomenology, starting with Henry and Patočka. In this sense, it is tried to show, on the one hand, how it is that for the French philosopher Life would be the fundamental phenomenon to be studied, Life that would have as an essential character to be absolute, therefore, different from any foundation that folds it to a external horizon that divides that absolute character. For its (...) part, it will seek to show how the Czech thinker understands that the phenomenological procedure should be guided by an asubjective principle, this in the interest of criticizing the subjective guarantor of correlational intentionality. This asubjective tendency would be completed in the attempt to refer appearing to the field of appearing, towards an infinite horizon of appearance, which would not need to be sustained by the immanence of consciousness. In short, an attempt will be made to show how absolute and infinite act respectively as the negation and affirmation of the horizon of appearing in phenomenology. (shrink)

BackgroundTo prevent the planet from catastrophic global warming a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to net zero is required. Thus, divestment from fossil fuels must be a strategic interest for health insurers. The aim of this study was to analyse the implementation of environmental, social and governance criteria in German private health insurers’ investments.MethodsIn 2019 a survey about ESG strategies was sent to German private health insurance companies. The survey evaluated investment strategies and thresholds for the exclusion of sectors and (...) business practices, as well as company strategies for sustainable business development.FindingsGiven their business reports, German private health insurers manage assets of more than €350 billion. 11 of 40 insurance companies provided quantitative data, 10 refused to answer. According to quantitative data, €66 billion of assets is managed according to any ESG criteria; this equals an average of 76% of each company’s bonds. None of these insurers excluded the production and sale of fossil fuels. All excluded coal mining but only at high thresholds. For €226 billion, no data were provided.InterpretationThe findings are in contrast to the expected intrinsic economic interest of the insurers to stop global warming and improve public health. The majority of assets are managed in a highly problematic manner, especially the absence of capital allocated in fields contrary to medical ethics cannot be presumed. Lack of transparency is a major problem that limits clients in choosing the insurer who has the most advanced ESG criteria. (shrink)

Der Beitrag erörtert anhand von Gottfried Benns Gedicht »Nachtcafé« aus dem Jahr 1912 die Möglichkeiten und Widerstände einer metaphorologischen Systematik im Sinne Hans Blumenbergs. Mit Roman Jakobson läßt sich Literaturgeschichte als Oszillation zwischen verschiedenen tropischen Verfassungen der Sprache auffassen, die Benns Gedicht nicht lediglich lesbar macht, sondern als historische darstellt und exponiert. Dadurch aber ist die Frage nach den tropischen Rhythmen der Moderne aufgeworfen.