T. 1. Livres I-V -- t. 2. Livres VI-XII.

In this commentary of Koonin’s target paper, we defend an extended view of CRISPR-Cas immunity by arguing that CRISPR-Cas includes, but cannot be reduced to, defence against nonself. CRISPR-Cas systems can target endogenous elements and tolerate exogenous elements. We conclude that the vocabulary of “defence” and “nonself” might be misleading when describing CRISPR-Cas systems.

Modelling of contagious disease usually employs compartmental SEIR-like models where the waiting times in respective compartments are exponentially distributed. In this paper, we are interested in investigating how the distributions of sojourn times in infective compartments affect the dynamics and persistence of the contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, a chronic respiratory disease of cattle. Two kinds of extreme distributions of the sojourn times are considered: a Dirac delta-function and truncated Gaussian function leading to a model with (non-constant) delay and the classical exponential (...) distribution that stands for a model without delay. Expressions of the basic reproductive numbers are derived and dynamical behaviours are discussed for the three models. It is found that the spreading of disease exhibits wave-like oscillations for the time-delay dynamics. In contrast, the disease appears to last longer when the spreading is described by the classical dynamics without delay. Subsequently, the time-delay dynamics turns out to be more appropriate for the description of an experimental epidemic of CBPP. (shrink)

While artists often present their works as communicating to and through them, this idea has rarely been taken seriously, nor empirically studied from a communicational perspective. Building upon the pragmatist tradition, we show how this particular form of communication takes place. Using Peirce’s concept of abduction, we argue that a creative process essentially happens when a resonance between two materials leads to the unification of these materials into a new whole. Drawing upon a case study, we show how we can (...) retrace such resonances by paying close attention to the interactions between participants collectively involved in a creative project. This paper makes an important contribution to communication studies by revealing the communicational mechanism of our creative impulsions. It also opens new avenues for the study of artistic endeavors as well as other creative activities such as science, politics, or design. (shrink)

From an evolutionary perspective, both atavism and somatic evolution/convergent evolution theories can account for the consistent occurrence, and astounding attributes of cancers: being able to evolve from a single cell to a complex organized system, and malignant transformations showing significant similarities across organs, individuals, and species. Here, we first provide an overview of these two hypotheses, including the possibility of them not being mutually exclusive, but rather potentially representing the two extremes of a continuum in which the diversity of cancers (...) can emerge. In reviewing the current literature, we also discuss the criteria that should be applied to discriminate between the two competing theories and to determine their relevant contributions to oncogenesis and cancer progression. Finally, we deliberate on the potential applications of this conceptual framework in developing novel treatment strategies. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework to understand how multicellular systems realize functionally integrated physiological entities by organizing their intercellular space. From a perspective centered on physiology and integration, biological systems are often characterized as organized in such a way that they realize metabolic self-production and self-maintenance. The existence and activity of their components rely on the network they realize and on the continuous management of the exchange of matter and energy with their environment. One (...) of the virtues of the organismic approach focused on organization is that it can provide an understanding of how biological systems are functionally integrated into coherent wholes. Organismic frameworks have been primarily developed by focusing on unicellular life. Multicellularity, however, presents additional challenges to our understanding of biological systems, related to how cells are capable to live together in higher-order entities, in such a way that some of their features and behaviors are constrained and controlled by the system they realize. Whereas most accounts of multicellularity focus on cell differentiation and increase in size as the main elements to understand biological systems at this level of organization, we argue that these factors are insufficient to provide an understanding of how cells are physically and functionally integrated in a coherent system. In this paper, we provide a new theoretical framework to understand multicellularity, capable to overcome these issues. Our thesis is that one of the fundamental theoretical principles to understand multicellularity, which is missing or underdeveloped in current accounts, is the functional organization of the intercellular space. In our view, the capability to be organized in space plays a central role in this context, as it enables (and allows to exploit all the implications of) cell differentiation and increase in size, and even specialized functions such as immunity. We argue that the extracellular matrix plays a crucial active role in this respect, as an evolutionary ancient and specific (non-cellular) control subsystem that contributes as a key actor to the functional specification of the multicellular space and to modulate cell fate and behavior. We also analyze how multicellular systems exert control upon internal movement and communication. Finally, we show how the organization of space is involved in some of the failures of multicellular organization, such as aging and cancer. (shrink)

The Postmodern explained to children : Correspondence 1982- 1985.

In polite contexts, people find it difficult to perceive whether they can derive scalar inferences from what others say . Because this uncertainty can lead to costly misunderstandings, it is important to identify the cues people can rely on to solve their interpretative problem. In this article, we consider two such cues: Making a long Pause before the statement, and prefacing the statement with Well. Data from eight experiments show that Pauses are more effective than Wells as cues to scalar (...) inferences in polite contexts—because they appear to give a specific signal to switch expectations in the direction of bad news, whereas Well appears to give a generic signal to make extra processing effort. We consider the applied value of these findings for human–human and human–machine interaction, as well as their implications for the study of reasoning and discourse. (shrink)

Predictability is a prerequisite for effective human control of artificial intelligence (AI). The inability to predict malfunctioning of AI, for example, impedes timely human intervention. In this paper, we empirically investigate how AI’s predictability compares to the predictability of humans in a real-effort task. We show that humans are worse at predicting AI performance than at predicting human performance. Importantly, participants are not aware of the differences in relative predictability of AI and overestimate their prediction skills. These results raise doubts (...) about the human ability to effectively exercise control of AI — at least in certain contexts. (shrink)

_Humanizing Education_ offers historic examples of humanizing educational spaces, practices, and movements that embody a spirit of hope and change. From Dayton, Ohio, to Barcelona, Spain, this collection of essays from the _Harvard Educational Review_ carries readers to places where people have first imagined—and then organized—their own educational responses to dehumanizing practices and conditions. Contributors include Montse Sánchez Aroca, William Ayers, Kathy Boudin, Fernando Cardenal, Jeffrey M. R. Duncan-Andrade, Marco Garrido, Jay Gillen, Maxine Greene, Kathe Jervis, Nancy Uhlar Murray, Valerie (...) Miller, Wendy Ormiston, Ana Y. Ramos-Zayas, Vanessa Siddle Walker, Arthur E. Thomas, and Travis Wright. (shrink)

Similar to parasites, cancer cells depend on their hosts for sustenance, proliferation and reproduction, exploiting the hosts for energy and resources, and thereby impairing their health and fitness. Because of this lifestyle similarity, it is predicted that cancer cells could, like numerous parasitic organisms, evolve the capacity to manipulate the phenotype of their hosts to increase their own fitness. We claim that the extent of this phenomenon and its therapeutic implications are, however, underappreciated. Here, we review and discuss what can (...) be regarded as cases of host manipulation in the context of cancer development and progression. We elaborate on how acknowledging the applicability of these principles can offer novel therapeutic and preventive strategies. The manipulation of host phenotype by cancer cells is one more reason to adopt a Darwinian approach in cancer research. -/- . (shrink)

Using an experimental design, this paper tackles the question of the framing impact of metaphors by focusing on the opportunity to implement a basic income system in a given polity. We take advantage of the preliminary stage of the BI debate in Belgium to study the influence of discursive strategies on the opinion formation process of individuals, since carefully choosing the arguments employed to address this question can help increase its psychological feasibility. Our experiment aims at determining to what extent (...) the confrontation of individuals to metaphors illustrating the BI system impacts the way they apprehend its implementation. We show that very light variations in an informative text can induce major differences in the opinion formation process of the participants. BI proponents should thus pay attention to which metaphors are put forward in the public debate, as this could modify its outcome. (shrink)

This paper insists on similarities between Heidegger’s presentation of Dasein’s authentic understanding of time in Being and Time (§§ 79-80) and Thomas Mann’s attempts to “narrate time itself” in The Magic Mountain. It shows that Thomas Mann’s temporal experiments can contribute to a phenomenology of temporality, not merely by “illustrating” philosophical theses, but also by achieving something that goes beyond any phenomenological consideration on time: the enactment of fundamental temporal experiences.

Résumé Le problème d’un « discours sur Dieu » aujourd’hui ne se pose plus dans le cadre aristotélico-thomiste où il se posait hier. Walter Kasper le rappelle fréquemment. Ce qui n’interdit pas la lecture de saint Thomas, mais la requiert au contraire. C’est donc en partant de Thomas d’Aquin que je voudrais proposer quelques réflexions sur le discours théologique, sur une certaine manière de « dire Dieu ». Je voudrais aussi montrer comment le « problème théologique » doit être posé (...) aujourd’hui par rapport à une certaine « pensée du langage ».The problem of a « discourse on God » today is no longer posed within the Aristotelian-Thomistic framework of yesterday. Walter Kasper brings this up frequently. Far from dismissing the study of Thomas Aquinas, this on the contrary makes recourse to his writings imperative. Hence it is by starting with Thomas Aquinas that I should like to propose some reflections on theological discourse, on a certain manner of « saying God ». I should like also to show how thinking on the « theological act » implies thinking about language. (shrink)

Le Commentaire du Traité de l'âme d'Aristote par Thomas d'Aquin est le cinquième des commentaires fondamentaux des oeuvres d'Aristote traduits en langue française. Avec celui des Physiques, de la Métaphysique, de l'Interprétation et des Analytiques, il fonde l'édifice de la philosophie de Thomas d'Aquin et assure les contreforts de sa théologie. Ce traité se présente comme un vaste essai de définition de l'âme et principalement de l'âme humaine, avec en filigrane, une question lancinante : cette âme est-elle immortelle? Si ce (...) traité est l'un des plus courts d'Aristote, et selon ses propres termes, encore à l'état d'ébauche, il est construit avec une rigueur méthodologique qui en fait une sorte de modèle pour toute réflexion philosophique. Thomas propose une explication reconnue comme des plus limpides, et introduit à un livre encore loué deux millénaires plus tard par Hegel, Marx ou Darwin. Comme le reste de l'oeuvre d'Aristote, il connaît aujourd'hui un regain d'intérêt remarquable et le commentaire de Thomas offre un guide très sûr pour son intelligence. (shrink)

El artículo trata de las huellas que el agustinismo del siglo XVI dejó en la exégesis bíblica de la facultad de teología de Lovaina. Como un ejemplo de esto, se abordan las obras de Cornelio Jansenio de Gante, subrayando su doble propósito académico y pastoral-litúrgico. Se estudian también las obras de Thomas Stapleton, Promptuaria y Antidota, señalando su intención de contrarrestar las interpretaciones bíblicas de Calvino, Beza y otros reformadores.

In an interesting recent exchange, Antti Kauppinen (2007) disagrees with Thomas Nadelhoffer and Eddy Nahmias (2007) over the prospects of experimental methods in philosophy. Kauppinen's critique of experimental philosophy is premised on an endorsement of a priori conceptual analysis. This premise has shaped the trajectory of their debate. In this note, I consider what foes of conceptual analysis will have to say about their exchange.

The premise of this brief study is an examination of the conditions in which a decentering can occur in the Blanchotian manner of the experience of listening to music. Through an exploration of these conditions of decentering, and taking as an example the first scene of the narrative Thomas the Obscure, the text probes the very notion of music, its presuppositions and prerogatives, in order to construct subsequently the hypothesis of a music free from any polar structure, of a music (...) construed as simply a given. By thus circumscribing all music between the two poles of a music comparable, on the one hand, to a landscape or natural horizon and, on the other hand, to a language, the essay foregrounds within Blanchot’s thought the basis of a possible becoming for a music which would engage the listener not as a plane of actualization but as a porous space. (shrink)

The development of the philosophy of science in the twentieth century has created a framework where issues concerning funding dynamics can be easily accommodated. It combines the historical-philosophical approach of Thomas Kuhn. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, [1962] ) with the sociological approach of Robert K. Merton The sociology of science. Theoretical and empirical investigations. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 267–278, [1942] ), linking the ‘exact’ sciences to economy and politics. Out of this came a new domain, (...) namely the study of scientific practices : Science as practice and culture. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1992). Given this broad theoretical framework, we will specify by looking at the case of STEM education and its variant Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics with Art education as an example par excellence. Without going into the technical details of the financial support of the projects, we prefer to open a philosophical debate on the way how policies on academic subjects influence a whole society and the personal life of both researchers and people/pupils involved in education. (shrink)

Appelé à dresser un état des lieux des études de philosophie médiévale en France, Alain de Libera constatait en 1992: «[...] il y a beau temps que les professeurs des séminaires ont oublié leur Thomas». Ce n’était pas un regret qui perçait derrière cette assertion. Mais avait-il raison? Il n’y avait alors pas encore quinze ans que les étudiants en théologie de l’Institut catholique de Paris avaient entendu les leçons du Père Dubarle sur l’ontologie de Thomas. Preuve, s’il en faut, (...) d’une persistance de la présence de la pensée de Thomas dans le cursus des études en théologie. Ce ne sont pas les étudiants qui, en fin d’année, ont dû étudier les feuilles ronéotypées — qui nous donnent aujourd’hui ce fort volume de presque cinq cent pages — qui nous contrediront. (shrink)

t. 1. Autographa et bibliothecae A-F -- t. 2. Bibliothecae Gdańsk-Münster.