Recent research highlights that inflammatory signaling pathways such as pattern recognition receptor (PRR) signaling and inflammatory cytokine signaling play an important role in both on‐demand hematopoiesis as well as steady‐state hematopoiesis. Knockout studies have demonstrated the necessity of several distinct pathways in these processes, but often lack information about the contribution of specific cell types to the phenotypes in question. Transplantation studies have increased the resolution to the level of specific cell types by testing the necessity of inflammatory pathways specifically (...) in donor hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) or in recipient niche cells. Here, we argue that for an integrated understanding of how these processes occur in vivo and to inform the development of therapies that modulate hematopoietic responses, we need studies that knockout inflammatory signaling receptors in a cell‐specific manner and compare the phenotypes caused by knockout in individual niche cells versus HSPCs. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare systemic inequities shaped by social determinants of health (SDoH). Public health agencies, legislators, health systems, and community organizations took notice, and there is currently unprecedented interest in identifying and implementing programs to address SDoH. This special issue focuses on the role of medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) in addressing SDoH and racial and social inequities, as well as the need to support these efforts with evidence-based research, data, and meaningful partnerships and funding.

Les sciences humaines ont en partage des concepts. L’histoire et la géographie, la sociologie et l’anthropologie, l’économie et la linguistique, la psychologie et la psychanalyse trouvent leur unité dans l’usage divers qu’elles en font, plutôt que dans un objet commun aux contours incertains. Pour s’établir comme sciences, elles ont dû affronter les problèmes épistémologiques, ontologiques et pratiques qu’ils suscitent ou révèlent. En s’efforçant d’éclairer le sens et l’efficace de ces concepts, en rendant compte de l’articulation et de l’évolution de ces (...) problèmes, la philosophie peut contribuer au développement des sciences humaines. Elle ouvre aussi pour elle-même un accès plus sûr à leurs savoirs et questionnements, sans lesquels elle ne saurait désormais avancer. Les contributions réunies dans ce recueil explorent, dans cette perspective, neufs concepts essentiels : la causalité, les normes, l’interaction, l’événement, la nature, la société, l’inconscient, l’expérimentation et la neutralité. -/- Ont contribué à ce volume : C. Bonicco-Donato, F. Callegaro, P. Charbonnier, E. Debray, P. Demeulenaere, S. Dupouy, C. Girard, F. Hulak, C. Pagès, R. Ogien. (shrink)

René Girard shows that all desires are contagious—and the desire to be thin is no exception. In this compelling new book, Girard ties the anorexia epidemic to what he calls mimetic desire: a desire imitated from a model. Girard has long argued that, far from being spontaneous, our most intimate desires are copied from what we see around us. In a culture obsessed with thinness, the rise of eating disorders should be no surprise. When everyone is trying (...) to slim down, Girard asks, how can we convince anorexic patients to have a healthy outlook on eating? Mixing theoretical sophistication with irreverent common sense, Girard denounces a “culture of anorexia” and takes apart the competitive impulse that fuels the game of conspicuous non-consumption. He shows that showing off a slim physique is not enough—the real aim is to be skinnier than one’s rivals. In the race to lose the most weight, the winners are bound to be thinner and thinner. Taken to extremes, this tendency to escalation can only lead to tragic results. Featuring a foreword by neuropsychiatrist Jean-Michel Oughourlian and an introductory essay by anthropologist Mark R. Anspach, the volume concludes with an illuminating conversation between René Girard, Mark R. Anspach, and Laurence Tacou. (shrink)

Les sciences humaines se distinguent les unes des autres par leurs méthodes et leurs objets privilégiés. En élaborant des procédures d’enquête spécifiques, elles s’efforcent de comprendre la vie psychique ou les pratiques collectives, la distribution des populations ou les rapports entre groupes, les idéaux sociaux ou les échanges matériels. Leur fin commune est toutefois d’éclairer de leurs lumières croisées une même réalité humaine et sociale. Leurs objets ont donc vocation à se rejoindre, leurs méthodes à se compléter. En interrogeant leur (...) pluralité sans la reconduire à une illusoire unité, la philosophie peut éclairer l’espace conceptuel et problématique qu’elles ont en commun. Elle ne ressort toutefois pas indemne d’une telle étude : ses propres questionnements, épistémologiques et politiques, se trouvent radicalement altérés par leur confrontation à ces disciplines. Les contributions réunies dans le second tome de cet ouvrage analysent, dans cette perspective neuf concepts essentiels : la population, le psychisme, la pratique, les classes, le genre, la comparaison, les statistiques, le public et la critique. -/- Ont contribué à ce volume : Ét. Bimbenet, J. Christ, I. Drouet, R. Fanciullacci, S. Ferrando, Ch. Girard, F. Hulak, A. Le Goff, L. Paltrinieri, L. Perreau. (shrink)

It is obvious that bringing to light the founding murder completely rules out any compromise with the principle of sacrifice, or indeed with any conception of the death of Jesus as sacrifice.If anyone says that a true and proper sacrifice is not offered to God in the Mass … let him be anathema.René Girard's thought has produced both admiration and unease among Catholic sacramental theologians struggling to come to grips with what his theory of scapegoating and sacrifice implies for (...) "the holy sacrifice of the Mass." The language of sacrifice permeates the liturgy itself, official Church teaching—including the documents of Vatican II—and centuries of Eucharistic theology, so Girard's critique has the potential to... (shrink)

A categorical structure suitable for interpreting polymorphic lambda calculus (PLC) is defined, providing an algebraic semantics for PLC which is sound and complete. In fact, there is an equivalence between the theories and the categories. Also presented is a definitional extension of PLC including "subtypes", for example, equality subtypes, together with a construction providing models of the extended language, and a context for Girard's extension of the Dialectica interpretation.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Imitation, Mirror Neurons, and Mimetic Desire:Convergence Between the Mimetic Theory of René Girard and Empirical Research on ImitationScott R. GarrelsIntroductionUntil recently, the pervasive and primordial role of imitation in human life was either largely ignored or misunderstood by empirical researchers. This is no longer the case. It is now clear that investigations on human imitation are among the most profound and revolutionary areas of research contributing to the (...) future of a more unified and coherent understanding of the cognitive and social sciences. This ever-growing body of research has profound implications for a better understanding of the development and structure of human psychosocial functioning as well as cultural evolution, yet current applications lack insight into two essential aspects of human imitation: (1) its elemental role in generating uniquely human forms of relational competition, rivalry, and violence; and (2) the historical and anthropological role of religious /cultural beliefs and practices in transforming the effects of human imitation into viable and sustainable communities. Rene Girard's Mimetic Theory offers empirical researchers an already elaborated explanatory model that illuminates the way in which imitation is foundational to these universal human phenomena. Yet astonishingly, there have been no substantial studies concerning the critical question of human imitation that have applied and synthesized recent empirical research with the mimetic theory of human motivation and religious and cultural evolution.The initiation of such a detailed and comparative analysis is essential to understanding not only the historical relationship between culture and religion (and ultimately the evolution of the human species) but perhaps more importantly the pressing and complex relationship between violence, religion, and contemporary society. The mimetic theory of religion helps bring to light the mechanisms of social mimesis that produce the self-other distortions characteristic of behaviors ranging from primitive sacrificial rituals to the abhorred [End Page 47] atrocities of recent history; yet it also fundamentally elucidates the creative and historical role of the religious and cultural insights and practices based on human mimetic dynamics that continue to be indispensable in fostering alternative, nonviolent forms of progress and social cooperation in our contemporary world.The purpose of this article, then, is to advance the interdisciplinary dialogue first embarked on by Jean-Michel Oughourlian (1982), and continued in more detail by Eugene Webb (1993), concerning the convergence between empirical research on imitation and René Girard's theory of psychological mimesis. Psychological mimesis1 is the tendency of human beings to imitate the gestures, behaviors, intentions, and desires of other persons; it is the very cornerstone upon which the entire work of Girard is constructed. From this foundation, Girard has made a number of bold claims about human nature and the resulting origin and structure of human culture and religion. Girard's work is immense in scope and has far reaching implications across such diverse disciplines as anthropology, primitive religion, psychology, literary analysis, theology, and philosophy. Any theory attempting to cover this much ground will undoubtedly draw an enormous amount of criticism, and Girard's work has been no exception. Regardless of this, "Girard's hypotheses about the pragmatics of imitative interaction, and more specifically, about the influence of imitation on motivation, represent a unique and significant contribution that merits a careful examination" (Livingston 1992, xvi).The ability of mimetic theory to effectively address the various disciplines it claims to interpret will depend significantly upon its capacity to clarify and validate the primordial role of mimesis in psychosocial development and functioning. Webb (1993) has emphasized that while Girard's work has many broader anthropological and historical implications, the most essential aspect of his theory is that of psychological mimesis. On this point Webb concluded:Thus there is good reason to think not only that [psychological mimesis] deserves a careful hearing but also that it should prove widely useful for psychologists in providing an explanatory framework for the sorts of systematic relationship that many are currently investigating.(213)While Paisley Livingston (1992) has attempted a systematic presentation of Girard's ideas on mimesis, to my knowledge the "careful hearing" that Webb called for has not taken place through an engagement with the empirical sciences. This is remarkable when one considers the enormous output of imitation research... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:DESIRED POSSESSIONS: KARL POLANYI, RENÉ GIRARD, AND THE CRITIQUE OF THE MARKET ECONOMY Mark R. Anspach CREA, Paris! f '""phe most radical critique of liberal capitalism ever:" that is how JL Louis Dumont describes 7Ae Great Transformation, Karl Polanyi's classic work on the rise of the market system. But the French anthropologist goes on to observe that, when one confronts this same critique with the ethnography of tribal (...) societies, "one may ask whether Polanyi did not in fact come up short; having criticized the economy as an idea, he thought he could retain it as a thing..." (Dumont xiv, xvi). Is the economy indeed a "thing" that has always existed in some form everywhere, and if so, what manner of thing is it? In a word, what is an economyfor? Is there a particular aim that any economy must serve? A specific motive that it necessarily brings into play? We will begin by looking at Polanyi's answer to this question. "No human motive is per se economic," Polanyi tells us. "There is no such thing as a sui generis economic experience in the sense in which man may have a religious, aesthetic, or sexual experience." It is market society, with its dependence on a disembedded economic system, which fosters the illusion that the "economic" motives of hunger and gain necessarily underlie every economic system (1968, 63-4). In reality, however, "human beings will labor for a large variety of reasons as long as things are arranged accordingly." For example, "Monks traded for religious reasons... The KuIa trade ofthe Trobriand islanders... is mainly an aesthetic pursuit. Feudal economy was run on customary lines. With the Kwakiutl," industry appears to have been "a point of honor," and 1 82Mark R. Anspach so on (1968, 68). The trick, it seems, is to "arrange things accordingly." An economic system can be "run on noneconomic motives," Polanyi explains, without linking the process of production or distribution "to specific economic interests attached to the possession of goods," as long as "every single step in that process is geared to a number of social interests which eventually ensure that the required step be taken" (2001, 48). Now, there is a danger in this presentation. It could lead a reader to conclude that other societies arrange things cunningly so that all these social interests are harnessed to ensure the performance of the steps necessary to economic processes in a kind ofelaborate ruse—a ruse which the out-in-the-open operation ofthe economy in our society gives us the ability to see through. Very well, such a reader might acknowledge, the economy is an "instituted process," and, yes, the act of instituting it "shifts the place ofthe process in society" (Polanyi 1968, 148), but ifyou track it down to its hiding place and strip away the social contrivances in which it has been embedded, what you will find is still the economy as we know it—indeed, the economy which market society alone lays bare. In this reading, or rather misreading, the "real" economic aims that market society achieves directly are elsewhere accomplished only in the most cumbersomely indirect fashion. This kind of erroneous conclusion will likely be difficult to counter as long as one posits an opposition between multiple, variable and diffuse social interests, on the one hand, and the apparently straightforward individual interest in the possession of goods, on the other. Wherever the economy is submerged in social relationships, Polanyi says, a man "does not act so as to safeguard his individual interest in the possession ofmaterial goods; he acts so as to safeguard his social standing, his social claims, his social assets" (2001, 48). The problem with such an opposition between individual and social is that a market-minded theorist can overcome it simply by broadening the individual interest in the possession ofgoods to include the possession ofreified social goods. Once social interests are conceptualized as "social assets," to use Polanyi's own expression—or as "symbolic capital," to cite a more recent formulation—they lend themselves to "economizing" even in the formal sense, and Polanyi's carefully constructed distinction between the substantive and the formal collapses, apparently confirmingthe universality of the market... (shrink)

Throughout his career, René Girard consistently positioned his mimetic theory as a far more cohesive account of the wide range of phenomena previously addressed by Sigmund Freud, from the nature of human desire all the way to the origin and structure of human culture and religion. Subsequent theories that took shape in psychoanalysis after Freud were not a part of Girard's ongoing discourse for at least two main reasons: Psycho-analysis was seen as a misguided endeavor with fundamentally incompatible (...) concepts and philosophical assumptions, and as psychoanalysis seemed only to be going further in one direction—focusing on the intrapsychic mechanisms of the individual unconscious—Girard's interests went in... (shrink)

Each Girard quantale provides a support for a semantics for linear propositional formulas. Several constructions of Girard quantales are known. We give two more constructions, one using an arbitrary partially ordered monoid and one using a partially ordered group. In both cases the semantics can be controlled be a relation between pairs of elements of the support and formulas. This gives us a neat way of handling duality.

Each Girard quantale (i.e., commutative quantale with a selected dualizing element) provides a support for a semantics for linear propositional formulas (but not for linear derivations). Several constructions of Girard quantales are known. We give two more constructions, one using an arbitrary partially ordered monoid and one using a partially ordered group (both commutative). In both cases the semantics can be controlled be a relation between pairs of elements of the support and formulas. This gives us a neat (...) way of handling duality. (shrink)

Each Girard quantale (i.e., commutative quantale with a selected dualizing element) provides a support for a semantics for linear propositional formulas (but not for linear derivations). Several constructions of Girard quantales are known. We give two more constructions, one using an arbitrary partially ordered monoid and one using a partially ordered group (both commutative). In both cases the semantics can be controlled be a relation between pairs of elements of the support and formulas. This gives us a neat (...) way of handling duality. (shrink)

The reputations of scientists among their contemporaries depend not only on accomplishment, but also on interactions affected by influence and personality. The historical lore of most fields of scientific endeavor preserve these reputations, often through the identification of founders, innovators, and prolific workers whose contributions are considered fundamental to progress in the field. Historians frequently rely on the historical lore of scientists to guide their studies of the development of ideas, exhibiting justifiable caution in reassessing reputations in the light of (...) current knowledge. However, the transmission of historical lore can obscure the relative importance of accomplishment, influence and personality in shaping contemporary reputations, leaving the historian to either accept reputations at face value or attempt to reconstruct the context in which they were created. The science of taxonomy, because of its rules of priority, leaves a relatively accurate record of historical accomplishment through the persistence of taxa in catalogues and faunal guides. These records allow the modern historian an unbiased means to assess the relative accomplishments of historical figures and therefore a means to critically reassess reputations independent of personality and influence. In the historical lore of North American ichthyology, Louis Agassiz at Harvard and Spencer Baird at the Smithsonian emerge as central figures in the early development of the field during the mid-1800s, contributing not only through the quality and quantity of their science, but also through their roles as institutional leaders and mentors to workers who followed. Charles Girard, originally a student of Agassiz's and later a coworker with Baird, receives little notice in the history of ichthyology, and his reputation is that of a minor player in the initial description of the North American fish fauna, and one whose work appears to have been flawed or even careless when compared to his contemporaries. However, a review of both contemporary and modern taxonomic works reveals that Girard's productivity far exceeded that of either Agassiz or Baird. Furthermore, an examination of the tendency of Girard and his contemporaries to introduce synonymous names into the literature, which might reflect careless or uncritical work, suggests that Girard was among the more accomplished workers of his era, including Agassiz and Baird. Girard's low ranking in the folklore of North American ichthyology, therefore, can not be attributed to discernible shortcomings in his scientific work, but rather to a public and private campaign of criticism waged by Agassiz after Girard's departure from Harvard. While Agassiz's dispute with Girard stemmed from their personal interactions, he expressed them as criticisms of Girard's work, and thus helped shape Girard's scientific reputation as it has been transmitted through the lore of ichthyology. This case study reveals how scientific reputation may not always rest on accomplishment, but can be influenced by personal interactions obscured by time but nonetheless important to history. (shrink)

This article investigates a theory of type assignment (assigning types to lambda terms) called ETA which is intermediate in strength between the simple theory of type assignment and strong polymorphic theories like Girard’s F (Proofs and types. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989). It is like the simple theory and unlike F in that the typability and type-checking problems are solvable with respect to ETA. This is proved in the article along with three other main results: (1) all primitive recursive (...) functionals of finite type are representable in ETA; (2) every term typable in ETA has a unique normal form; (3) there is a function defined by ${{\varepsilon}_0}$ -recursion which takes every typable term to a natural number which is an upper bound to the lengths of all βη-reduction sequences starting with that term. (shrink)

Sections 1 through 4 define, in the usual inductive style, various classes of object including one which is called the “combinatory terms of polymorphic type”. Section 5 defines a reduction relation on these terms. Section 6 shows that the weak normalizability of the combinatory terms of polymorphic type entails the weak normalizability of the lambda terms of polymorphic type. The entailment is not vacuous, because the combinatory terms of polymorphic type are indeed weakly normalizable, as is proven in Sect. 7 (...) using Tait and Girard’s computability predicates. The remainder of the paper is devoted to arguing that interesting consequences would follow from the existence of an “ordinally informative” proof, i.e. one which uses transfinite induction over recursive ordinal numbers and otherwise finitary methods, of normalizability for as large a class of the terms as possible. (shrink)

The geometric system of deduction called N-Graphs was introduced by de Oliveira in 2001. The proofs in this system are represented by means of digraphs and, while its derivations are mostly based on Gentzen's sequent calculus, the system gets its inspiration from geometrically based systems, such as the Kneales' tables of development, Statman's proofs-as-graphs, Buss' logical flow graphs, and Girard's proof-nets. Given that all these geometric systems appeal to the classical symmetry between premises and conclusions, providing an intuitionistic version (...) of any of these is an interesting exercise in extending the range of applicability of the geometric system in question. In this article we produce an intuitionistic version of N-Graphs, based on Maehara's LJ' system, as described by Takeuti. Recall that LJ' has multiple conclusions in all but the essential intuitionistic rules, e.g., implication right and negation right. We show soundness and completeness of our intuitionistic N-Graphs with respect to LJ'. We also discuss how we expect to extend this work to a version of N-Graphs corresponding to the intuitionistic logic system FIL (Full Intuitionistic Logic) of de Paiva and Pereira and sketch future developments. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:"CONCUPISCIENCE" AND "MIMETIC DESIRE": A DIALOGUE BETWEEN K. RAHNER AND R. GIRARD Nikolaus Wandinger Innsbruck University Since Augustine "concupiscence" has been the theological technical expression for the consequences that remain in all human persons subject to original sin. These consequences were often described as involuntary and uncontrollable desires or passions, especially in the realm ofsexuality. In the 1940s Karl Rahner revised that concept, freeing it from its narrow (...) sexual connotations and opening it up, so that concupiscence can be construed as a force in all intentional human action. In 1954 Rahner expanded the scope ofthis revision still further, situating concupiscence in the theological framework of grace. While the mimetic theory does not use the concept of"concupiscence," "mimetic desire" is the core ofthat theory. The mimetic nature of desire accounts for involuntary and uncontrollable passions, in sexuality or otherwise. René Girard's mimetic theory goes a step further than Rahner in that it explains how this power of passion can arise. However, it does not link its results with the traditional Christian language of grace. Is there a place for grace in mimetic theory? A comparative look at Rahner's development ofconcupiscence in a framework ofgrace and Girard's theory of human desire promises richer insights into the phenomenon of involuntary and uncontrollable human desires and passionsthan each ofthe two on its own. My paper attempts to develop and explicate these insights. On the way there, differences and similarities between a more philosophical-minded theology and mimetic theory will be examined and related to each other. Nikolaus Wandinger147 1.Introduction I will try to give you a briefoutline ofRahner's theological analysis of concupiscence, already interspersed with comments from mimetic theory, as to how much the two agree or disagree. In a second step I will present to you Rahner's special emphasis on the meaning of concupiscence within a world that has already been redeemed and ask, whetherthis can be accepted by mimetic theory. It might seem strange to attempt such a dialogue with Rahner, since he is certainly one ofthe most "philosophical" theologians there are—while Girard distances himself quite clearly from philosophical thinking.5 Yet, many theologians stand in that philosophical tradition, and one obstacle for a wider acceptance of mimetic theory in theology might be its aversion against philosophical thinking. So, ifwe could contribute something to the diminishing ofthat divide on the way, it would be no small feat. 2.Rahner's "concupiscence" Commented by Girard's mimetic theory In 1941 Rahner forthe firsttime pubiished his article on the theological concept of concupiscence, which he later revised and enlarged with a chapter on grace.6 In it Rahner starts out by giving three definitions ofhow the word concupiscence is used in philosophical ortheological literature of the time. Interestingly Rahner translates the Latin concupiscentia into the German Begehren, which is desire, when he explains the meaning ofthe term. The definitions are: 1) Desire in the broadest sense is any consciousness-related reactive behavior toward any value or good, as opposed to receptive acknowledgement.7 It is characteristic for this broad concept ofconcupiscence that it pertains to voluntary as well as to involuntary acts of human reaction towards value.8 5 See Girard, 2002, 15 or Girard 1999, 16 Not contained in the English version whose foreword is much shorter. 6 Rahner 1941, 61-80. Revised version in Rahner 1954, 377-414 English version. Rahner 1961, 347-382 1 will refer here to the version contained in Rahner 1954 and moreover use my own paraphrase ofthat version in which I will bring Rahner's thoughts already into a more easily understandable English. I claim to do so without distorting Rahner's original meaning (German original given in the references). 7 Rahner 1954, 388: "Begehren im weitesten Smn istjede bewusste reaktive Stellungnahme zum Wert und Gut. im Gegensatz zu hinnehmender Kenntnisnahme " 8 Rahner 1 954, 389- "Das Charakteristische dieses weitesten Begriffes der Konkupiszenz ist dies, dass er sowohl die freien wie die unwillkürlichen Akte menschlicher Wertreaktion 148A Dialogue Between K. Rahner and R. Girard Now, here Rahner is really philosophical. What he says is that we can distinguish two types ofhuman reactive behavior towards any object in the... (shrink)

C ontemporary religious terrorism propels in the forefront of philosophical, sociological, anthropological and political discussions and analysis the issue of religious violence. The violence belongs to the nature itself of religion? If so, what mechanisms can be activated to reduce violence? How to reconcile Christianity's central idea - the love of our neighbor - with the sacred violence thesis? How can the idea of religious violence be reconciled with the idea of religious love? Weak thinking, that is the logic of (...) a weak thinking may be a solution? We try to answer to such questions by appealing to the debate of ideas offered by the French anthropologist René Girard and the Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo. (shrink)

Tendo como ponto de partida a obra de René Girard, o presente artigo pretende apresentar a dimensão antropológica presente na obra deste autor, destacando a sua originalidade e novidade ao pensar o homem como animal socialmente desejante. A teoria mimética, como Girard a formula, pretende ser uma teoria que, colocando no centro da sua reflexão o desejo e a imitação, permita compreender como se estruturam as sociedades arcaicas e actuais, partindo de mecanismos marcadamente antropológicos, para afirmar que as (...) sociedades se estruturam a partir do desejo, do sacrifício e da necessidade de existência de «bodes expiatórios». A partir deste pressuposto, o sacrifício é a primeira instituição humana, com a capacidade farmacológica de preservar a sociedade e de permitir a sua subsistência no tempo. A cultura, por seu lado, emerge a partir do desejo mimético; e o mecanismo do bode expiatório, mecanismo vitimário por excelência, regula a sociedade ao solucionar as suas tensões internas. Considerando estes três conceitos – sacrifício, desejo mimético e mecanismo do bode expiatório – este artigo expõe o modo como se relacionam estes conceitos. Apesar de constatar a sua presença e eficácia na história, Girard não os legitima de jure, desvelando o segredo da sua eficácia – a ignorância inocente das vítimas – que, paradoxalmente, persiste mesmo depois de denunciada nas suas escusas razões. Posto isto, perguntemo-nos: como proteger o homem da sua própria violência? (shrink)

Bien que reconnue et traduite dans de nombreux pays, l'œuvre de René Girard est peu reconnue en France et conserve une réputation sulfureuse dans les milieux académiques. Pourtant ses idées ont imprégné le discours de bien des enseignants et chercheurs. Point essentiel : la familiarité de l'auteur avec le christianisme. Celui que l'on a pu appeler " le Hegel du christianisme " voudrait démontrer la supériorité spirituelle et philosophique de cette religion. Etonnante pensée que celle de R. Girard, (...) caractérisée par un mixte de simplicité et de complexité. Ses concepts, peu nombreux, souvent puisés dans le langage commun (bouc émissaire, lynchage, contagion, scandale, Satan et Jésus, etc.) n'en n'acquièrent pas moins une puissance opératoire et explicative peu commune, imprégnant l'ensemble de sa production. L'ouvrage présente l'œuvre de René Girard en articulant trois de ses apports fondamentaux. 1) La théorie du désir mimétique, 2) La théorie de la " victime émissaire ", ou de la violence fondatrice, 3) L'importance du processus de la " méconnaissance ", qui est au fondement du processus de la violence fondatrice. (shrink)

Les travaux consacrés par René Girard aux crises du mimétisme se donnent simultanément comme une théologie judéo-chrétienne de la violence et comme une anthropologie existentielle du lien social. Ils proposent ainsi une vaste rétrospective sur l’histoire de la christianisation et de la déchristianisation des sociétés. Notre étude anticipe sur une lecture critique de cette œuvre en avançant deux objections: la théo-anthropologie de R. Girard réduit les significations du sacré à l’expérience qu’en a fondée l’institution religieuse monothéiste; elle ne (...) réduit pas la dispersion méthodologique des sciences sociales. D’où les deux inconnues qui subsistent: le sacré résiste-t-il au déclin de l’institution religieuse? Comment les sciences sociales résisteront-elles à la fragmentation de leurs modèles et de leurs prémisses? (shrink)

The publication of the following four articles is the result of a Colloquium on Violence and Religion session at the American Academy of Religion annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, on November, 24, 2013.It is unbelievable, but on February 27, 2014, Raymund Schwager, SJ, the Innsbruck dogmatics professor and first president of the COV&R, will have been dead already for ten years. Sometime after his sudden death in 2004, his office had to be cleared out, and when this sad work was (...) begun, it soon became clear that there was a treasure to be retrieved: letters, typescripts, drafts for a book, and several articles, along with other academic material. Józef Niewiadomski, who was Schwager’s successor as .. (shrink)

After a brief interlude of legality ending in 1947, France and Italy faced violence fuelled by Communist organisations; the most important took place from the autumn of 1947 to the autumn of 1948 and greatly impressed governments and public opinion, sustaining fear of a Communist uprising. Facing this challenge to public order were resolute Ministers of the Interior Mario Scelba and Jules Moch. Their policy gained them the reputation of reso­lute anti-Communists going beyond the limits of democratic legality. This paper (...) questions this simple picture. In fact, for centre-right and centre-left govern­ments ruling these two countries, emergency powers were linked to the state of (civil) war and both ministries’ policies relied mainly on the application of the existing penal code and the mobilisation of existing forces. Moves to strengthen repressive laws depended on a long and uncertain parliamentary process and, without wide political consensus and solid parliamentary majorities, they often proved to be too little or too late. Judiciary repression was sometimes inefficient, leaving the Ministries infuriated by impunity. With the fear of world war peaking in 1950, there were legal efforts to thwart possible Communist support for a Soviet invasion; but those did not appear any more fruitful than prior attempts, and faded when internal matters seemed more urgent than the declining “Red Threat” in the 1950s. This study also highlights the fact that the repression by the Italian state, relying on former Fascist laws and sometimes infringing on civil liberties, was more violent than in France. Casualties caused by law enforcement persisted even after the decrease of Communist activism, underlying the histor­ically higher level of social and political confrontation in Italy. (shrink)

Reason and Value collects 15 new papers by leading contemporary philosophers on themes from the work of Joseph Raz. Raz has made major contributions in a wide range of areas, including jurisprudence, political philosophy, and the theory of practical reason; but all of his work displays a deep engagement with central themes in moral philosophy. The subtlety and power of Raz's reflections on ethical topics make his writings a fertile source for anyone working in this area. Especially significant are his (...) explorations of the connections between practical reason and the theory of value, which constitute a sustained and penetrating treatment of a set of issues at the very center of moral philosophy as it is practiced today. The contributors to the volume acknowledge the importance of Raz's contributions by engaging critically with his positions and offering independent perspectives on the topics that he has addressed. The volume aims both to honour Raz's accomplishments in the area of ethical theorizing, and to contribute to an enhanced appreciation of the significance of his work for the subject. (shrink)

Individuals living with rare conditions are faced with important challenges derived from the rarity of their conditions and aggravated by the low priority given to rare disease research. However, current realities of rare disease research require consideration of the relationship between subjectivity and ‘traditional’ objectivity. Objectivity in research has traditionally been associated with processes and descriptions that are independent of the investigator. The need for researchers to provide unbiased knowledge and achieve a balance between objectivity and the underlying values in (...) nursing and scientific research requires an examination of how objectivity is conceptualized within the context of rare disease research. The aim of this paper is to examine scientific objectivity in rare disease research from a philosophical viewpoint and, in doing so, demonstrate the need to redefine it to reflect the current scientific environment. As such, healthcare providers working on this field need to redefine objectivity around ethical and moral obligation to advance science in an equitable manner with the end goal to produce knowledge that is trustworthy and beneficial to our patients. (shrink)

Religious pluralism (the view that all the great world religions are equally true) is largely motivated by the fear that religious exclusivism ( the view that there is just one correct religion) leads to intolerance and oppression of those holding differing religious views. I claim that this suggests a false dichotomy: either be a tolerant pluralist or an intolerant exclusivist. I argue, first, that the seventeenth-century doctrine of toleration supports the claim that exclusivists of differing sects can peacefully coexist and, (...) second, that religious pluralism has harmful consequences. Exclusivism (tempered by toleration) is the best solution to the challenge of religious diversity. (shrink)

This text is an outgrowth of notes prepared by J. Y. Girard for a course at the University of Paris VII. It deals with the mathematical background of the application to computer science of aspects of logic (namely the correspondence between proposition & types). Combined with the conceptual perspectives of Girard's ideas, this sheds light on both the traditional logic material & its prospective applications to computer science. The book covers a very active & exciting research area, & (...) it will be essential reading for all those working in logic & computer science. (shrink)

In the process of completing his critical edition of Marcus of Orvieto's Liber de Moralitatibus, Girard J. Etzkorn happened upon a set of questions attributed to Henry of Ghent at the end of Rome's Bibliotheca Angelica codex 750. These questions are edited in this volume under the proviso "attributed to" so that scholars may compare the texts with other works of the Ghentian master known to be authentic. Etzkorn concludes that the ten questions appear to be of two literary (...) genres. Moreover, the ten questions seem to be "selected" questions and were not likely disputed at the same time. Future investigations are essential to find out if the questions may indeed be attributed to Henry himself or whether they were written by one of Henry's disciples who was copying the thoughts and words of the master. (shrink)