The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature of bureaucratization within public research bodies and its relationship to scientific performance, focusing on an Italian case-study. The main finding is that the bureaucratization of the research sector has two dimensions: public research labs have academic bureaucratization since researchers spend an increasing part of their time in administrative matters (i.e., preparing grant applications, managing grants/projects, and so on); whereas universities mainly have administrative bureaucratization generated by the increase over time of (...) administrative staff in comparison with researchers and faculty. In addition, I show that research units with higher bureaucratization have lower scientific performance. (shrink)

This article outlines three interlocking and mutually reinforcing registers in Giorgio Agamben’s work: the law, the apparatus, and the anthropological machine. While Agamben is clear that rules render inoperative laws and counter-apparatuses suspend the functioning of apparatuses, that which neutralizes the anthropological machine remains undisclosed. To explore this messianic opening, the author moves beyond Agamben and posits the possibility of a shift from an anthropological machine to a phytological machine. Whereas the former functions through the production of binary oppositions that (...) divide life from its form, the latter yields to the internally generative potentiality of lifeforms. In conclusion, the article proposes an alternative reading of several of Agamben’s key examples, including his references to Tiananmen Square, as manifestations of a phytological machine emerging from within the composting of anthropological divisions. (shrink)

O presente artigo objetiva realizar uma análise conjunta das obras Metamorfoses (2020) do filósofo italiano Emanuele Coccia e O mestre ignorante (1987) do filósofo francês Jacques Rancière. A análise será feita sob a luz do crescente interesse contemporâneo sobre o conceito de comum, considerado uma aposta política e filosófica de diversos movimentos sociais e intelectuais críticos tanto do neoliberalismo quanto do comunismo de Estado. Argumentaremos que as duas obras, ainda que não coloquem tal noção em primeiro plano, apresentam contribuições (...) importantes para a compreensão do comum, principalmente em sua dimensão filosófica. Argumentaremos também que o conceito de inteligência em O mestre ignorante e o conceito de metamorfose em Metamorfoses, ainda que mobilizados em edifícios conceituais diferentes, não deixam de apresentar um certo tipo de parentesco – sendo ambos dispositivos sensíveis e cognitivos que expressam uma dimensão inapropriável, transmundana e compartilhada, uma riqueza comum, uma potência imprópria que pertence a todos e a ninguém. (shrink)

La propuesta de Emanuele Coccia representa una vuelta a las formas más básicas y a los significados más orgá- nicos. Un golpe al antropocentrismo moderno y a la manera de construir nuestro mundo y las relaciones que tenemos con él. Un nuevo giro epis- temológico que se vuelca contra sí: a lo primero que se enfrenta es al sujeto y a su cognición universalista. No es la otredad vuelta hombre-dios, sino el mundo en y frente a nosotros, como conexiones (...) biológicas que tejen un infinito sentido de la vida orgánica. Parte del cosmos hasta regresar a él, pasa por el vientre biológico, materno, so- cial, político, simbólico y así no somos más contenedores de sentido y cono- cimiento, sino el paso de una energía universal que nunca se detiene, sólo se transforma. (shrink)

Nous en parlons à peine et leur nom nous échappe. La philosophie les a toujours négligées ; même la biologie les considère comme une simple décoration de l'arbre de la vie. Et pourtant, les plantes donnent vie à la Terre : elles fabriquent l'atmosphère qui nous enveloppe, elles sont à l'origine du souffle qui nous anime. Les végétaux incarnent le lien le plus étroit et élémentaire que la vie puisse établir avec le monde. Sous le soleil et les nuages, en (...) se mêlant à l'eau et au vent, leur existence est une interminable contemplation cosmique. Ce livre part de leur point de vue - celui des feuilles, des racines et des fleurs - pour comprendre le monde non plus comme une simple collection d'objets, ou un espace universel contenant toute chose, mais bien comme l'atmosphère générale, le climat, un lieu de véritable mélange métaphysique. (shrink)

We barely talk about them and seldom know their names. Philosophy has always overlooked them; even biology considers them as mere decoration on the tree of life. And yet plants give life to the Earth: they produce the atmosphere that surrounds us and they are the origin of the oxygen that animates us. Plants embody the most direct, elementary connection that life can establish with the world. In this book, philosopher Emanuele Coccia argues that, as the very creator of (...) atmosphere, plants occupy the fundamental position from which we should analyze all elements of life. From this standpoint, we can no longer perceive the world as a simple collection of objects or a universal space containing all things, but as the site of a veritable metaphysical mixture. One implication of Coccia’s claim is that since the atmosphere of life is rendered possible through plants alone, life only perpetuates itself through the very circle of consumption undertaken by plants. In other words, life exists only insofar as it consumes other life, removing any moral or ethical considerations from the equation. In contrast to trends of thought which discuss nature and the cosmos in general terms, Coccia’s account brings the infinitely small together with the infinitely big, offering a radical redefinition of the place of humanity within the realm of life. Faced as we are with ever more complex and urgent ecological questions, this path-breaking account of the life of plants will appeal not only to students and scholars of philosophy but to a wide range of readers interested in our relation to the natural world. (shrink)

A brilliant reflection on the interconnectedness of all life.

Rien n’est plus faux que l’image de Dante comme génie isolé, tranchant sur son époque. Il appartient au contraire à une génération d’intellectuels italiens très caractéristique: laïes, souvent actifs dans plus d’un domaine, pratiquant abondamment l’expression poétique, engagés dans l’action politique, ces savants-citoyens partagent également une forte conscience historique. Leur inventivité se manifeste, en philosophie, en médecine et en droit, autant que dans l’expression littéraire. Outre des facteurs endogènes, une clé de ce phénomène tient à la réception active du savoir (...) naturaliste élaboré à Paris, qui est lu en Italie hors du contrôle des théologiens. Les parcours parallèles d’une douzaine de personnalité hors du commun montrent la nécessité d’élargir les cadres habituels de l’histoire intellectuelle médiévale. (shrink)

Se ha distinguido entre arquitectura cognitiva unificada y arquitectura de procesos múltiples (Machery 2009). Basándonos en esta distinción, intentaremos mostrar que si se explicitan y analizan los criterios de coordinación entre procesos, las teorías de doble proceso para el razonamiento y la toma de decisiones tendrían dificultades para consolidarse como una arquitectura de procesos múltiples.It has been distinguished between unified cognitive architecture and multiple-process architecture (Machery 2009). Based on this distinction, we will try to show that if processes coordination criteria (...) are explicated and analyzed, double-process theories for reasoning and decision making have difficulties to consolidate as multiple process architecture. (shrink)

'Risquons-Tout' is an ambitious, thematic group exhibition that explores the potential of transgression and unpredictability. It examines how art challenges the homogenisation of thought in the now infamous echo chambers of our overcrowded info-sphere. 'Risquons-Tout' presents some of the most innovative and influential artists and authors from the Eurocore region, which extends between Amsterdam, Paris, Cologne, Düsseldorf and London, with Brussels at its centre. The title is borrowed from a place located on the Belgian-French border, a real yet liminal space (...) of transition, passage and informal exchanges, notably smuggling. The invited artists negotiate different dynamics of bridging, passing, translating and transgressing. In doing so they burst the safe bubbles generated by prediction algorithms, designed to avoid any risk, whether intellectual, financial, emotional or physical. The exhibition's geographic and political scope addresses today's global connectivity, trans-national circulation and diasporic movements. 'Risquons-Tout' will occupy the entire WIELS building and range out into neighbouring exhibition and performance spaces. It will present the works of 38 internationally recognised or emerging artists. The exhibition proposes a rich array of practices that defy easy categorisation. 'Risquons-Tout' will also include a performative section and an Open School that will serve as a laboratory for artists and scholars to draw upon questions of risk, unpredictability and borders through a range of alternative methods for the transmission of knowledge. Exhibition: WIELS, Brussels, Belgium (12.09.2020 - 10.01.2021). (shrink)

Im letzten Jahrhundert hat sich das Museum von einer Institution, die sich auf die Vergangenheit und ihre Bewahrung konzentriert, zu einem Instrument der Wahrsagerei über die Zukunft von Kunst und Gesellschaft gewandelt. Der Aufsatz schlägt vor, ebenso die Museen für Naturgeschichte zu transformieren und für das Konzept einer Zeitgenossenschaft der Natur mit den entsprechenden Untersuchungsinstrumenten zu öffnen, sodass sie sich zu neuen Museen für zeitgenössische Natur entwickeln können. During the last century, art museums evolved from institutions focussing on the past (...) and its preservation to instruments of soothsaying about the future of art and society. This article suggests transforming museums for natural history in the same way, introducing them to the concept of a contemporaneity of nature via proper investigative tools in order to help outdated museums transforming into modern institutions, showcasing contemporary nature. (shrink)

During the last century, art museums evolved from institutions focussing on the past and its preservation to instruments of soothsaying about the future of art and society. This article suggests transforming museums for natural history in the same way, introducing them to the concept of a contemporaneity of nature via proper investigative tools in order to help outdated museums transforming into modern institutions, showcasing contemporary nature.

Claims advertising is nothing but a metaphysical hypothesis about the moral nature of things: objects aren't purely physical or economical entities. Any object, regardless of its nature, can become a complex of possible happiness--not just an object of value, but a moral source of perfection for any one of us.

Dès ses origines, l’écologie a toujours voulu présupposer l’existence parmi les êtres vivants non-humains d’un ordre, d’un équilibre naturel qu’il est nécessaire d’affirmer pour nier ou refouler l’apparente « guerre de tous contre tous » censée régner entre les différentes espèces naturelles. L’article essaie de définir les présupposés théologiques de cette idée d’ordre, et de montrer qu’au centre de l’interaction entre toutes les espèces, il y a une activité d’inclusion et d’inséparation qui se manifeste par l’alimentation.

This book is a rehabilitation sensibility. It defines what we call sensibility or sensible life by defining the ontological status of images. It shows that images have an intermediate ontological status and exist in an autonomous sphere. It also explores our interactions with images in dream, fashion and language.

This theory accords to volitions the status of basic mental actions, maintaining that these are spontaneous exercises of the will--a "two-way" power which ...

Durkheim écrit ce livre avec un but double : d'abord il voulait expliquer ce qui crée une société, ce qui la tient ensemble ; ensuite il voulait éclaircir l'influence qu'a la société sur la pensée logique. Pour Durkheim, la religion est la clé utilisée pour déverrouiller ces deux problématiques.Dans ce livre, Durkheim argumente que les représentations religieuses sont en fait des représentations collectives : l'essence du religieux ne peut être que le sacré. Il est une caractéristique qui se trouve universellement (...) dans toutes les religions. Le sacré, être collectif et impersonnel, représente ainsi la société elle-même. Ensuite il argumente que la société a un impact majeur dans la genèse de la pensée logique. C'est la société qui fournit à l'individu les catégories (le temps, l'espace, le nombre etc.) et les concepts nécessaires pour la pensée logique. (shrink)

There is a long tradition in philosophy and literary theory defending the view that engagement with literature promotes readers’ empathy. Until the last century, few of the empirical claims adduced in that tradition were investigated experimentally. Recent work in psychology and neuropsychology has now shed new light on the interplay of empathy and literature. This article surveys the experimental findings, addressing three central questions: What is it to read empathically? Does reading make us more empathic? What characteristics of literature, if (...) any, affect readers’ empathy? While experimental studies have delivered no conclusive answers to these questions, it has exposed their psychological complexity and constructed a more nuanced picture of the diverse ways in which literature interacts with our empathic capacities. (shrink)

We argue that the trend toward providing users with feasible and actionable explanations of AI decisions—known as recourse explanations—comes with ethical downsides. Specifically, we argue that recourse explanations face several conceptual pitfalls and can lead to problematic explanation hacking, which undermines their ethical status. As an alternative, we advocate that explanations of AI decisions should aim at understanding.

With special emphasis on Foucault's many recently published lecture series this book provides an updated, comprehensive presentation of his most important diagnoses, his many ground-breaking analytical concepts as well as a systematic account of his unique conception of philosophy.

When we perceive an object, we perceive the object from a perspective. As a consequence of the perspectival nature of perception, when we perceive, say, a circular coin from different angles, there is a respect in which the coin looks circular throughout, but also a respect in which the coin's appearance changes. More generally, perception of shape and size properties has both a constant aspect—an aspect that remains stable across changes in perspective—and a perspectival aspect—an aspect that changes depending on (...) one's perspective on the object. How should we account for the perspectival aspect of spatial perception? We present a framework within which to discuss the perspectival aspect of perception and put forward three desiderata that any account of the perspectival aspect of perception should satisfy. We discuss views on which the perspectival aspect of perception is analyzed in terms of constitutively mind-dependent appearance properties as well as views on which the perspectival aspect of perception is analyzed in terms of representations of mind-independent perspectival properties. (shrink)