At the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, change was fast and furious: the exploration of coastal Africa by the Portuguese, the exploration of the West Indies by the Spanish, the extermination of the island Indians, the importation of black slaves to the Iberian peninsula, then the expansion of the slave trade to the American colonies - in short, the much-heralded inauguration of European colonization overseas, with all of its attendant horrors. All of this is adequately known, it seems; (...) the purpose of the present article is not to rehearse this history, even in summary. But if chronology has any value here, it is in making clear that, while the massacre of the Arawaks and the Caribbean Indians quickly attracted attention, eliciting protests that were to be renewed in the following centuries, the black slave trade and black slavery began somewhat discreetly, as if it took quite some time for the esprits libres in Europe to take notice of it. Over the three centuries leading up to the French revolution, blacks were transferred from their native countries to the American colonies. In Europe, these three centuries saw the development of Enlightenment thought, the revolt against domination by the Church, the call for human rights, and the will to democracy. The parallel is superficial, but troubling nevertheless: four facts appear to be linked together, and not merely chronologically: the massacre or de facto subjugation of the Indians, the trade and enslavement of blacks, and colonization. Is the last of these not the cause of and the key to understanding the other three - as well as a number of other phenomena? (shrink)

A proof is presented showing that there is no paraconsistent logics with a standard implication which have a three-valued characteristic matrix, and in which the replacement principle holds.

With the meaning of trust, good faith and respect for promises made, protection, or assistance, fides in the non-exclusively religious sense of the word comes from the demand for ethical perfection: as such, it is omnipresent in human relations and in the dynamic of societies in the Middle Ages.

’Catastrophes are not accidents.’All complex organizations can take steps to prevent catastrophe by enlisting the new scientific study of danger. The author is a member of the Scientific Committee of 1′Institut Européen de Cindyniques and Directeur général adjoint of L'Union des Assurances de Paris. This article is part of a presentation made to the 1992 Paris Conference of the European Business Ethics Network, of which the author is a Council member. The subject of the Conference was the role of business (...) in the shaping of cities, but the author's reflections on learning from risks are of considerably wider application. (shrink)

Le XVIIIe siècle est l'âge d'or du matérialisme français. Qu'il prolonge la doctrine de la nécessité des événements de Hobbes, qu'il retourne la théorie des animaux machines contre Descartes pour penser l'homme machine, qu'il renouvelle l'idée d'une science de l'homme à partir d'une critique de l'intériorité subjective ou invente de nouveaux modèles, on retrouve souvent dans les œuvres les plus importantes la tentative de fournir une explication homogène de la nature, de la société et de l'esprit. Mais cet âge d'or (...) du matérialisme français, tout central qu'il fut dans la pensée des Lumières, n'y fut pourtant pas dominant. C'est pourquoi, outre son aspect proprement théorique, son style est polémique et critique: contre les fictions de la métaphysique, contre l'hypocrisie morale, contre la superstition religieuse. Affrontant directement les pouvoirs ecclésiastique, politique, universitaire, certains textes matérialistes ont vécu, comme on le sait, une vie clandestine et connu une histoire souterraine. Il est question ici de trois matérialistes français majeurs: La Mettrie, Helvétius et d'Holbach. Si ces trois auteurs sont privilégiés, c'est pour remettre au premier plan des œuvres qui ont été parfois éclipsées par l'ombre immense portée par une autre figure importante: Diderot. Mais Diderot n'est bien entendu pas absent du volume. Il se pourrait même que ce soit dans une confrontation avec lui que se dessinent les voies du matérialisme. (shrink)

Le secret est un savoir mais séparé des autres, caché, scellé, qu’il faut taire. Détenir un secret, tenir ou garder le secret, c’est aussi être détenu, tenu ou gardé par lui. Le secret est pesant, on aimerait s’en libérer. Mais cette libération n’est pas facile, parce que dévoiler un secret, c’est trahir les autres ou soi-même. Le secret s’oppose à la transparence, comme..

Comment expliquer la vague d’intérêt pour Carl Schmitt, l’idéologue nazi, dans plusieurs pays d’Europe, vague qui affecte aujourd’hui la France après avoir traversé l’Italie ? On doit, bien entendu, tenir compte de la publication, depuis quelques années, de ses textes principaux en traduction française1, mais cela ne saurait à soi seul rendre compte de la réception dont il..

De civilisation à civilisation rien n’est simple ni univoque. On sait le regain d’intérêt pour la notion de civilisation aujourd’hui où l’on considère souvent, à la suite de Samuel P. Huntington, que la rivalité entre grandes puissances du XXe siècle a été remplacée au XXIe par le choc des civilisations. Voici l’une des formulations qu’il en donne : « En résumé,..

Il s’agit de déduire le concept de cosmopolitisme à partir de la notion d’humanité et de montrer le champ considérable qui s’ouvre ainsi à la pensée : le rapport à la nature et au monde vivant, l’idée d’une justice universelle pensée à partir de l’humanité comme sujet supérieure au peuple ou à l’État comme sujet. De cette hiérarchie peut être tirée l’idée d’un droit de résistance des peuples contre l’oppression, l’équité territoriale, le droit de vivre dignement des fruits de la (...) Terre au lieu où l’on habite. (shrink)

Il a également publié : Raison et déraison d’État ; Jean Bodin : nature, histoire, droit et politique ; Aspects de la pensée médiévale dans la philosophie politique moderne ; Comment..

Si je devais dire simplement en quelques mots en quoi l’œuvre de Paul Ricœur marque la philosophie contemporaine, je soulignerais que la question susceptible d’unifier cette œuvre et d’en illustrer la puissance de synthèse, à travers les multiples champs qu’elle traverse, les innombrables lectures auxquelles elle donne lieu et la diversité des interrogations qu’elle éveille,...

L’insistance depuis le début du XXIe siècle sur le choc réel ou supposé des civilisations entre l’Islam et l’Occident semble rendre insensible un autre péril, plus réel peut-être, que le penseur juif Yeshayahou Leibowitz n’a cessé de souligner : la confusion extrême des esprits qu’enveloppe l’idée d’un « héritage judéo-chrétien commun »1 ou de « valeurs communes...

Comment la pensée médiévale continue-t-elle à agir dans la philosophie juridico-politique moderne, c'est-à-dire dans un horizon intellectuel et historique qui n'est plus le sien? Telle est la question qui anime les contributions au présent ouvrage. Cette action persistante de la pensée médiévale, qui est en même temps transformation de ce qui agit, est étudiée dans le cadre de trois grandes problématiques. 1. Le transfert de la notion de plenitudo potestatis de l'ordre ecclésiastique à l'ordre politique. 2. Le déplacement d'un univers (...) qui trouvait son fondement en Dieu vers un univers qui comporte, non un, mais deux fondements possibles entre lesquels se développe une tension (laquelle deviendra plus tard une concurrence) : Dieu et l'homme. C'est dans le cadre de cette tension entre les deux fondements théologique et éthique que se forment les doctrines du sujet psychologique et affectif, d'une part, et du sujet de droit, d'autre part. 3. Enfin, la constitution d'une théorie du pouvoir politique sur les hommes qui n'est plus pensée dans les catégories de la propriété des choses alors que celles-ci fournissaient, au Moyen Age, le principe d'intelligibilité de celle-là. Ce volume entend ainsi apporter un éclairage nouveau sur la naissance et la constitution de la philosophie juridico-politique moderne. (shrink)

L'objectif est ici de déterminer la mesure dans laquelle nous serions aujourd'hui sortis des catégories conceptuelles sur lesquelles la pensée politique moderne s'est construite.

Les sociétés démocratiques sont confrontées à l'émergence d'enjeux environnementaux décisifs qui concernent tant les modes de production, d'échange et de consommation que l'habitat, les transports, l'agriculture, l'industrie et même nos modes de vie. La prise en charge de ces enjeux ne saurait s'opérer simplement par des mesures ponctuelles ou locales. Elle doit aujourd'hui être repensée la temporalité de l'action politique, confrontée à une urgence qui ne cessera de s'accroître dans les prochaines années.

Niccolò Machiavelli is the most prominent and notorious theorist of violence in the history of European political thought - prominent, because he is the first to candidly discuss the role of violence in politics; and notorious, because he treats violence as virtue rather than as vice. In this original interpretation, Yves Winter reconstructs Machiavelli's theory of violence and shows how it challenges moral and metaphysical ideas. Winter attributes two central theses to Machiavelli: first, violence is not a generic technology (...) of government but a strategy that tends to correlate with inequality and class conflict; and second, violence is best understood not in terms of conventional notions of law enforcement, coercion, or the proverbial 'last resort', but as performance. Most political violence is effective not because it physically compels another agent who is thus coerced; rather, it produces political effects by appealing to an audience. As such, this book shows how in Machiavelli's world, violence is designed to be perceived, experienced, remembered, and narrated. (shrink)

Les violations des droits de la personne sont de plus en plus fréquentes et de plus en plus graves dans les sociétés occidentales. C’est la conséquence de « l’entreprisation » de notre monde. Devenue l’organisation domi­nante dans nos sociétés, l’entreprise constitue dans son principe même une menace pour la dignité de la personne, dans la mesure où elle est fondée sur l’ins­trumentalisation des êtres humains. Quiconque veut protéger l’homme de l’ex­ploi­tation et de l’aliénation ne peut donc que souhaiter l’abolition de (...) l’entreprise. Mais, dans ce cas, il faut supprimer les conditions qui la rendent possible. Or, paradoxalement, certains droits fondamentaux font partie de ces conditions. D’où la nécessité de les repenser. (shrink)

There exists increasing pressure for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, including social reporting. Curiously in this promotional programme of CSR reporting, the only group whose ideas are not sought in this debate are the SME leaders themselves. The present ethnographic field analysis, based on discussions within entrepreneurs' circles, tends to suggest that the argument for expanding formalisation of CSR to SMEs rests upon several fallacies. It implicitly assumes that an apparent solution for (...) large multinationals can be transposed to SMEs, and it underestimates the drawbacks of bureaucracy. Moreover, many SMEs experience inconsistency between the idealistic CSR communication of some large companies and their actions, especially in the supply chain. The author concludes that reports do not constitute the validation for real CSR, nor the proof of superior ethical behaviour. Formalisation can even be counterproductive. Conversely, the absence of social reporting does not imply that SMEs do not behave responsible. CSR in SMEs needs a specific approach, adapted to the informal nature and entrepreneurial character of the small business. The essence of CSR lies in the implementation of responsible business practices. It lies in the right attitudes, in the corporate culture, not in formalisation. (shrink)

Pathologizing ugliness refers to the framing of unattractive features as a type of disease or deformity. By framing ugliness as pathology, cosmetic procedures are reframed as therapy rather than enhancement, thereby potentially avoiding ethical critiques regularly levelled against cosmetic surgery. As such, the practice of pathologizing ugliness and the ensuing therapeuticalization of cosmetic procedures require an ethical analysis that goes beyond that offered by current enhancement critiques. In this article, I propose using a thick description of the goals of medicine (...) as an ethical framework for evaluating problematic medical practices. I first describe the goals of medicine based on Daniel Callahan's account. I then propose that the goals work best in conjunction with ancillary ethical concepts, namely medical knowledge and skills, standards of practice and medical duties and virtues. Next, I apply the thick description of the goals of medicine in critiquing the practice of framing ugliness as disease. Here, I demonstrate ethical conflicts between aesthetic judgments that underpin the practice of pathologizing ugliness and medical judgments that inform ethical medical practices. In particular, the thick description of the goals of medicine helps reveal ethical conflicts in at least three key domains common to clinical practices, which include (a) disease determination, (b) diagnostic evaluation and (c) establishing clinical indications. My analysis offers a novel way of critiquing the practice of pathologizing ugliness in cosmetic surgery, which tends to be neglected by enhancement critiques. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reaching the Age of Majority:The Life Trajectory of the CIHR Institute of AgingYves Joanette, Anne Martin-Matthews, Réjean Hebert, and Joanne GoldbergThe Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) was created in 2001 under the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Act S.C. 2000, c. 6 (Government of Canada, 2000). The creation of CIHR was in follow-up to the Canadian Medical Research Council (MRC) as well as to the National Health Research (...) and Development Program of Health Canada that, up until that point in time, had supported the breadth of health research in Canada. Two important characteristics of CIHR were crucial for the development of research on aging. The first was that CIHR, unlike MRC, was entrusted with the challenge of supporting the whole spectrum of health research, from the basic biomedical perspective to clinical research, research on health services and policies as well as social aspects of health research, not to mention research on ethics and other perspectives (including the science of research). The second characteristic of the nascent CIHR that impacted the community of research on aging was the decision that a small part of the overall CIHR budget would be used to address priority-driven questions or topics (strategic competitions), while the majority of the budget would be invested in grants and awards programs that would be investigator-initiated, as in the time of the MRC (open competition). Since its inception, CIHR has included 13 institutes that are central to the priority-driven actions. Institutes not only play an important convener role within their communities and among their stakeholders, but they are also expected to listen to the needs, gaps and opportunities in their area and to introduce initiatives---most of the time involving more than one Institute---in order to tackle these needs and gaps and to seize upon the opportunities.The Institute of Aging was introduced at the same time as the other 12 Institutes and it is clear that many challenges were awaiting the new Institute since, at that time, research on aging was still in its early years. This article is about the trajectory of the CIHR Institute of Aging in its first 18 years of existence. Having now reached an age that is either the age of majority or quite close to it, it is important to be able to provide a reflection on the evolution of the priorities over this period, while also taking a peek at some of the priorities that will surely come in the near future.The Early Years (2001-2004)The founding Scientific Director of the Institute of Aging was Dr. Réjean Hébert. A well-known and prolific [End Page 1] geriatrician and researcher, Dr. Hébert was the perfect person to launch the Institute. One of his first actions was, in fact, to harmonize the French and English names of the Institute. In French, the name of the Institute focused on Aging (Institut du vieillissement) while, in English, the name of the Institute focused on Healthy Aging. The CIHR Institute of Healthy Aging thus became the CIHR Institute of Aging in all versions of its documentation. But above and beyond this important name change, the real work of Dr. Hebert, accompanied by the first Institute Advisory Board1, chaired by Prof. Dorothy Pringle, was to identify the gaps, the needs and the opportunities. After a rigorous process came the first Strategic Plan of the CIHR Institute of Aging, which was clearly influenced by Dr. Réjean Hébert's vision of the aging population as an opportunity, instead of a catastrophe, for our society that comes, of course, with its own challenges. Dr. Hébert left CIHR during his first mandate as he was called upon to become the Dean of his Faculty, and then went on to become the first CIHR Scientific Director to sit as a Minister of Health and Social Services in the Québec Government. The main outcomes of Dr. Hebert's years (2001-2004) can be summarized as follows2.• Organizing many workshops and meetings to ensure that the Institute of Aging would become the premier national convener for research on aging, bridging between disciplines... (shrink)

The success of the stakeholder theory in management literature as well as in current business practices is largely due to the inherent simplicity of the stakeholder model––and to the clarity of Freeman’s powerful synthesised visual conceptualisation. However, over the years, critics have attacked the vagueness and ambiguity of stakeholder theory. In this article, rather than building on the discussion from a theoretical point of view, a radically different and innovative approach is chosen: the graphical framework is used as the central (...) perspective. The major shortcomings of the popular stakeholder framework are systematically confronted with the graphical scheme to illustrate their visual impact. The graphical illustrations of the imperfections help explain the sometimes-oversimplified generalisation inherent to every graphical model. They also make some interrelationships easier to understand. The analysis demonstrates that, with the tacit but implicit acceptance of simplification of the discussed explanatory elements, Freeman’s framework remains a rather good approximation of reality. Only a few minor changes to the stakeholder model are consequently proposed. (shrink)

The success of the stakeholder theory in management literature as well as in current business practices is largely due to the inherent simplicity of the stakeholder model-and to the clarity of Freeman's powerful synthesised visual conceptualisation. However, over the years, critics have attacked the vagueness and ambiguity of stakeholder theory. In this article, rather than building on the discussion from a theoretical point of view, a radically different and innovative approach is chosen: the graphical framework is used as the central (...) perspective. The major shortcomings of the popular stakeholder framework are systematically confronted with the graphical scheme to illustrate their visual impact. The graphical illustrations of the imperfections help explain the sometimes-oversimplified generalisation inherent to every graphical model. They also make some interrelationships easier to understand. The analysis demonstrates that, with the tacit but implicit acceptance of simplification of the discussed explanatory elements, Freeman's framework remains a rather good approximation of reality. Only a few minor changes to the stakeholder model are consequently proposed. (shrink)

In his Florentine Histories, Machiavelli offers an ambivalent portrayal of the revolt of the textile workers in late fourteenth-century Florence, known as the tumult of the Ciompi. On the face of it, Machiavelli's depiction of the insurgent workers is not exactly flattering. Yet this picture is undermined by a firebrand speech, which Machiavelli invents and attributes to an unnamed leader of the plebeian revolt. I interpret this speech as a radical and egalitarian vector of thought opened up by Machiavelli's text. (...) The revolutionary address reveals an untimely and not entirely self-conscious political radicalism, a plebeian politics that repudiates the logic of oligarchic privilege and is simultaneously not available for subsumption under the mantle of civic republicanism. (shrink)

Presents essays describing the author's impressions of art and architectural works.

Dans la tradition théologique, tantôt l'être est identifié au bien, tantôt le bien se situe au-delà de l'être. Ces deux postures métaphysiques ont convergé dans deux pensées différentes de l'analogia entis. Parcourir ces grandes pensées selon une relecture phénoménologique fait surgir la problématique d'une méprise sur le sens de l'être : Y aurait-il deux manières de considérer l'être, l'une où l'être serait quelque chose qui nécessiterait un geste antérieur de donation, l'autre où l'être serait lui-même donation et bonté? Le défi (...) heideggérien pousserait la théologie vers une question fondamentale. Y répondre, ce serait, d'une part, mettre au jour le présupposé sur lequel est fondé la critique de l'onto-théologie et, d'autre part, par une remise en question de la "déconstruction", laisser émerger une construction métaphysique entièrement transformée par la Révélation. Pour opérer cette entreprise, le chemin est déjà balisé du côté phénoménologique par les travaux de Paul Ricoeur, Jean-Luc Marion et Michel Henry. Leurs études sont stimulantes pour la théologie dont le point de vue est cependant différent. Comme Jean-Yves Lacoste le fait remarquer, considérer la Révélation comme un fait, et non comme une possibilité, ouvre une intentionnalité qui donne accès à une autre description des phénomènes et, par là, à une nouvelle herméneutique. Par conséquent, la foi permet une pensée de l'être impensable sans elle. La Révélation provoque à penser une différence ontologique où l'être ne se retire pas dans sa donation. Cette logique est surprenante au regard de la pensée de Heidegger. Elle se propose comme une alternative à la logique de l'alètheia. (shrink)