A huge bestseller in Europe, Frederic Lenoir’s Happiness is an exciting journey that examines how history’s greatest philosophers and religious figures have answered life’s most fundamental question: What is happiness and how do I achieve it? From the ancient Greeks on—from Aristotle, Plato, and Chuang Tzu to the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad; from Voltaire, Spinoza, and Schopenhauer to Kant, Freud, and even modern neuroscientists—Lenoir considers the idea that true and lasting happiness is indeed possible. In clear language, Lenoir concisely surveys (...) what the greatest thinkers of all time have had to say on the subject, and, with charming prose, raises provocative questions: · Do we have a duty to be happy? · Is there a connection between individual and collective happiness? · Is happiness contagious? · Is there a difference between pleasure and happiness? · Can unhappiness and happiness coexist? · Does our happiness depend on our luck? Understanding how civilization’s best minds have answered those questions, Lenoir suggests, not only makes for a fascinating reading experience, but also provides a way for us to see us how happiness, that most elusive of feelings, is attainable in our own lives. (shrink)

The rise of modern natural sciences was based on the belief that knowledge about nature would increase steadily and that sooner or later it would prove useful for people and society. How these expectations shaped the self-image and the development of the natural sciences is the subject of this book. It turns out that expectations have repeatedly changed: from the universal ideal of utility of the 17th and 18th centuries to the promise of technical progress that is decisive today. The (...) unshakable belief in the usefulness of the natural sciences has always been accompanied by the insight that progress in knowledge can only be guaranteed if research is not based solely on short-term needs. In her story of the modern understanding of science, Désirée Schauz draws a bow from early modern natural research to the natural sciences of the 20th century. With its long-term perspective and its conceptual historical instruments, this book not only makes an important contribution to the modern history of science, but also provides a historically sound basis for current debates on science and innovation policy."-- publisher's website. (shrink)

"Spinoza in English" is the first bibliography to bring together the entire 325-year record of books, monographs, dissertations, and articles in English on Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677), including translations of his works into English. Well over 2100 citations are presented, bringing this record through early 1991. Arranged alphabetically by author or editor and internally cross-referenced for ease of use, this bibliography also cites its own sources where appropriate and, in many cases, provides guidance on how to obtain unpublished or out-of- (...) print titles. Additionally, it restores or corrects a good deal of earlier bibliographic detail, identifies dozens of publications hitherto overlooked, and, beginning with titles from the mid-1800's, presents the citations in a uniform style. (shrink)

La contribution de Michel Troper à la théorie générale du droit et à la théorie constitutionnelle est aujourd'hui reconnue et célébrée un peu partout dans le monde. Un talent d'architecte se tient à l'origine de cette audience rarement égalée dans la sphère francophone : celui qu'il faut pour accommoder toutes les exigences, quel que soit l'ordre de valeur dans lequel on les trouve : originalité, rigueur, souci de la fonction, esthétisme, solidité, adaptation, intelligence, inquiétude, esprit critique, renoncement, réalisme... A ces (...) mérites, on ajoutera une curiosité insatiable, un goût prononcé pour l'échange et le débat, un refus distingué de l'académisme, un sens exigeant de l'amitié et une méfiance profônde pour les adjectifs... C'est cet édifice de qualités que les élèves, collègues et amis de Michel Troper sont heureux de célébrer en lui offrant ces Mélanges. (shrink)

Quelle est la tâche – plutôt que la contribution – de la philosophie à l’égard du langage? Dans cet article, il s’agit de revisiter la réponse de Paul Ricœur à cette question, à partir de son texte “Philosophie et langage.” Ricœur assigne à la philosophie la tâche de se réapproprier la triple médiation langagière: “chemin” du langage vers monde, “chemin” du langage vers le sujet et “chemin” du langage vers la communauté humaine. Partant de l’expérience concrète des sujets parlants, Ricœur (...) s’oppose à la clôture systémique présupposée par la conception structuraliste du langage, qui suspend la fonction de la référence dans la relation de signification. À partir d’une conception élargie de la référence – qui inclut la fonction poétique du langage –, le philosophe dégage de la notion de “monde du texte” la dimension ontologique constitutive du langage: dans sa fonction poétique, en effet, le langage révèle, selon lui, les possibilités multiples de notre mode d’existence. Nous montrons enfin que c’est à travers la notion d’attestation que Ricœur établit une connexion entre la réouverture de la triple médiation du langage et l’élaboration de cette nouvelle ontologie. (shrink)

Pour présenter la thérapie familiale psychanalytique, l’auteure en évoque la genèse en France, en explicite les visées, puis s’attache à en décrire le processus. En appui sur le cas clinique d’une famille suivie, sont mis en évidence les points délicats depuis la demande de la famille jusqu’à l’arrêt de la thérapie. La technique est décrite ainsi que les différentes étapes qui tentent d’amener chacun à gagner en individuation. L’auteure insiste sur les prérequis nécessaires de la formation dispensée aux thérapeutes qui (...) s’engagent dans cette pratique. (shrink)

This paper aims to integrate insights from psychoanalytic theory into business ethics research on the sources of ethical failures within organizations. We particularly draw from the analysis of sources and outcomes of neurotic processes that are part of human development, as described by the psychoanalyst Karen Horney and more recently by Manfred Kets de Vries; we interpret their insights from a stakeholder theory perspective. Business ethics research seems to have overlooked how “neurotic management styles” could be the antecedents of unethical (...) behavior within organizations. After showing the connection between five managerial neuroses and the corresponding potential ethical failures within organizations that have been already identified within business ethics research, we suggest three organizational strategies to counteract these failures. First, we argue that managers should pay greater attention at the complexity of human motivation, avoiding the simplistic view of compliance‐based approaches. Second, we discuss the importance of developing a conversation around values within organizations, enabling healthy individual growth and limiting the emergence of neurotic processes. Finally, we discuss the role of the business ethicist in facilitating such a process, suggesting a parallel between the role of the business ethicist and that of the psychoanalytic therapist. (shrink)

O presente trabalho pretende resgatar o debate entre Richard Rorty e Nancy Fraser, ocorrido no início da década de 1990, especificamente a partir do texto Feminismo e Pragmatismo apresentado na Tanner Lectures on Human Value. Nesta conferência o filósofo discorreu sobre a possibilidade de conciliação entre o seu pragmatismo e o feminismo. Rorty aborda o feminismo enquanto autocriação da mulher através da “redescrição” mediante a manifestação poética, onde o filósofo encara as feministas como criadoras do novo. Em seguida, exporemos a (...) crítica de Fraser, que trabalha sobre a proposta apresentada pelo pragmatista e que oferece suas próprias ideias dentro de uma concepção do feminismo como movimento democrático de massa. Ao final, uma breve avaliação das implicações das críticas e sugestões apresentadas por Rorty ao feminismo e também da resposta de Fraser. (shrink)

Teaching about technology, at all levels of education, can only be done properly when those who teach have a clear idea about what it is that they teach. In other words: they should be able to give a decent answer to the question: what is technology? In the philosophy of technology that question is explored. Therefore the philosophy of technology is a discipline with a high relevance for those who teach about technology. Literature in this field, though, is not always (...) easy to access for non-philosophers. This book provides an introduction to the philosophy of technology for such people. It offers a survey of the current state-of-affairs in the philosophy of technology, and also discusses the relevance of that for teaching about technology. The book can be used in introductory courses on the philosophy of technology in teacher education programs, engineering education programs, and by individual educators that are interested in the intriguing phenomenon of technology that is so important in our contemporary society. (shrink)

On the ethics of extending human life: healthy people have a right to carry on livingHumanity has long demonstrated a paradoxical ambivalence concerning the extension of a healthy human lifespan. Modest health extension has been universally sought, whereas extreme health extension has been regarded as a snare and delusion—a dream beyond all others at first blush, but actually something we are better off without. The prevailing pace of biotechnological progress is bringing ever closer the day when humanity will be able (...) to act on the latter view by rejecting a clear and present opportunity for much longer healthy lives. Indeed, some biogerontologists contend that that day has already arrived, to the extent that our hesitation in embarking on a vigorous “war on ageing” is already delaying the point at which a cure for ageing will be developed. Here I consider whether our present caution concerning the wisdom of truly curing ageing is likely to survive the increased scrutiny that it will receive in coming years as a result of these technical advances. I conclude that it will not, because of its irreconcilability with values that are more deeply held by the large majority of humanity than any values that argue against the quest for a cure. I further conclude that all the major current reasons given for not curing ageing are mere crutches to help us cope with the immutability of ageing that we have been brought up to accept. Our failure to set aside such irrationality is already shortening potential longevity—quite probably of those already alive today—to a staggering degree. Once we realise this, our determination to consign human ageing to history will be second …. (shrink)

We prove that all extensions of Heyting Arithmetic with a logic that has the finite frame property possess the de Jongh property.

Este artículo fundamentado en el pensamiento rizomático de Deleuze y Guattari analiza diversas concepciones sobre cuerpos y territorios desde el período presocrático, incluyendo estudios de neurociencia y la propuesta epistémica de los feminismos decoloniales y comunitarios. Así, desarrollamos una reflexión teórica que critica las definiciones de cuerpo y territorio como «objetos dados» que se configuran como «cuerpos sin órganos» apropiados por el capitalismo y el pensamiento occidental. Nuestro objetivo es evidenciar al conocimiento como un agenciamiento relacional entre cuerpos y territorios (...) que puede ser desarrollado por segmentaciones interseccionales alternativas. Por ello, la epistemología de los cuerpos y territorios asume que sin cuerpos no hay territorios, sin territorios no hay cuerpos y sin ambos no hay conocimiento. (shrink)

In September 1931, a panel discussion was convened at Central Hall Westminsteron the subject of the ‘Evolution of the Universe’, at the centenary meeting of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science. Center stage was what todo about the evolving universe being younger than the stars, evidently a paradoxin the relativistic study of the evolving universe, at the time. Here, we discusstwo diametrically opposed reactions to the paradox, which were each broadcastat the meeting by Lemaˆıtre and de Sitter, respectively. As (...) we argue, that bothcould be projected to the public as viable reflects an unsettled question at thefoundations of the then-nascent discipline: what is the role for considerationsof scale in relativistic cosmology? (shrink)

Le § 9 de la Krisis expose les étapes : idéalisation géométrique, mathématisation indirecte des qualités, induction savante, opérations aveugles du calcul. Une enquête historique confirme-t-elle le récit de Husserl ?

Through several historical case studies from the last 300 years, Luis de Miranda shows how the phrase 'esprit de corps' acts as a combat concept with a clear societal impact. He also reveals how interconnected, yet distinct, French, English and American modern intellectual and political thought is.

This article presents a review of the theoretical support of the Portfolio of Evidence as a pedagogical tool to be used at the higher level with the aim of improving writing products, understanding the importance of developing in students’ skills for the optimal construction of academic writings. The portfolio then becomes a resource used by teachers not only to obtain evidence of the progress of students in the subject that is developed, but also constitutes an indicator to assess the progress (...) in the acquisition of learning in the studentfrom the writings it produces. The particularity of being continuous and progressive also allows the student to self-assess their progress through the writing they make and can generate strategies for continuous improvement. (shrink)

El objetivo de esta investigación es el de realizar un análisis de la epistemología de Quine. Para ello, comenzaré planteando la problemática filosófica del empirismo que nuestro autor critica en su obra. Continuaré realizando un análisis de la teoría del conocimiento de Quine desde su tesis pragmatista, con la que explicaré cómo se da el conocimiento según sus conceptos fundamentales: la reificación y el holismo. La tesis que defenderé es que los problemas que han caracterizado a la metafísica y, en (...) consecuencia, al empirismo son producidos por un mal uso de la reificación. (shrink)

Muchos psiquiatras se encuentran constantemente con pacientes cuyos síntomas incluyen trastornos o alteraciones de la conciencia. Infortunadamente, el significado del término conciencia es poco claro. Este artículo hace un repaso sistemático de varios significados atribuidos a dicho término, así como de diversos problemas filosóficos asociados. Asimismo, reconstruye varias teorías filosóficas y científicas de la conciencia, identificando sus ventajas y desventajas. Al final, ofrece algunas sugerencias para el uso del término conciencia en la psiquiatría.

El presente artículo analiza los primeros escritos de Heidegger, en el contexto de sus orígenes católicos y antimodernos, a fin de mostrar en ellos una serie de aspectos característicos. La pretensión final consiste en poner de relieve los elementos valorativos y cosmovisionales que dirigen el pensamiento de Heidegger en sus inicios. De ese modo, se vuelve posible dejar planteada la pregunta de si dichos elementos no siguen jugando un papel decisivo, aunque menos visible ya, en toda la filosofía del primer (...) Heidegger. (shrink)